Robert A. Emmons
Robert Arthur Emmons, 88, a lifelong resident and business
leader in Stevens Point, died Wednesday, July 13, 2016, at his Brookdale
residence in Stevens Point.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 25,
at the Church of the Intercession, 1417 Church St., Stevens Point.
Visitation will be at the church from 10 a.m. Monday until
the service. The service will be followed by a gathering in the Parish Hall.
The family requests that donations be made in his honor to
the Church of the Intercession (Episcopal); Saint Michael’s Foundation-Hospice,
Stevens Point; or Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, Principal Flutist
Chair.
Boston Funeral Home in Stevens Point assisted with
arrangements. Condolences may be offered online at www.bostonfuneralhome.net.
Mr. Emmons was born March 12, 1928, a son of the late Myron
and Irene Emmons. He graduated from P.J. Jacobs High School in 1946.
He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison)
for a year, then returned to Stevens Point to lead the family business after
his father fell ill.
That family business evolved after his great-grandfather,
Newton Emmons, became a partner in a lumbering concern in the middle of the 19th
century; and then in 1902, his grandfather, Charles Emmons, opened a grocery
and meat market which in 1916 became C.E. Emmons & Son when his father joined as a
partner.
That business closed during the Depression, but later Mr.
Emmons’ parents opened Emmons Stationery and Office Supply Store, which
steadily expanded under his leadership for more than four decades, from its
original downtown store on Strongs Avenue to a store near UW-Stevens Point and
additional retail stores in Wisconsin Rapids, Appleton and Wausau.
He also established Emmons Office Design Service that
provided customized interior designs and furniture regionally and nationally.
He continued to lead the company until his retirement.
He was a member of the Citizens National Bank board of
directors, the Stevens Point Chamber of Commerce and the Stevens Point Rotary
Club.
He was married to Dorothy Ann Wilcox Sept. 8, 1951. She died
July 16, 2001.
He was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the
Intercession, serving on the church vestry and leading countless church efforts
and events, including hands-on restoration of the church rectory.
In retirement he served as a driver for the American Red
Cross and volunteered for Operation Bootstrap, the local food pantry. He also
supported performances of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra.
Survivors include two children, Carol Emmons, professor emerita
of art at UW-Green Bay, and Paul Emmons, professor of architecture at Virginia
Tech in Alexandria, Va.; and two grandchildren, Zachary Robert Emmons and
Andrew Charles Emmons, both of Falls Church, Va.; and one daughter-in-law,
Renee Boyle, Falls Church, Va.
He was also preceded in death by one sister, Shirlee Emmons
Baldwin.