Helen Emerson

Helen Jo Buckley Emerson passed away at the age of 82 in her home, on September 30, 2017, surrounded by her family. Helen Jo was born in Kalamazoo, MI on July 31, 1935, the daughter of the late Clara Heiney Buckley and James Flanders Buckley. Jo was a loving wife and mother and is survived by her husband of sixty years, Theodore P. Emerson of Hickory Corners, her son, Theodore Poindexter Emerson Jr. (Teeper) of Townsend, MA, her daughter, Dr. Kathryn Anne Emerson (Kitsie) of Java, Indonesia, her brother Frederick James Buckley II of Richland, MI, and her last of many cats, Snow. Jo attended Cornell University for two years and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1957, where she was a Kappa Alpha Theta at both institutions. Aside from a brief time in Oak Ridge, TN and Schenectady, NY she lived all of her life on Gull Lake, Michigan. She loved books, the visual and performing arts, traveling, and sailing. Jo received her Masters in Library Science at Western Michigan University. She was Head of the Reference Department at Willard Public Library in Battle Creek for almost 20 years, a frequent book talk presenter, a member of a number of book clubs in the Gull Lake area and, in her retirement years, a volunteer at the Richland Public Library. Helen Jo served as a board member of the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts for a number of years and was an active volunteer for the Gilmore Keyboard Festival. She served terms as President of both the Fontana Chamber Arts Festival and the Stulberg International String Competition. A celebration of Jo's life will be held Friday, December 29, 2017 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Gull Lake Country Club. Donations can be sent to Fontana Chamber Arts, Stulberg International String Competition, or Hospice of Southwest Michigan. Arrangements by the Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home & Cremation Care, Richland Chapel.