Paul Adams Emmons

Malachi 6:8: He has showed thee, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.

Paul Adams Emmons, Jr., age 96, after a life exemplary of Malachi 6:8, passed away on September 19, 2011, at his home at Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community in Charleston, SC.

Born in Flora, Mississippi on February 28, 1915, Paul spent his early years in Greenwood and Jackson, Mississippi, graduating from Mississippi State University in 1937 with a degree in electrical engineering.  Following a brief tenure with Mississippi Power and Light, he moved to Badin, North Carolina, and began a forty-year career with Alcoa.  After transfers to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Evansville, Indiana, he returned to the Badin Works and remained there until his retirement in 1977.

In 1940, Paul married Ellen Kinghorn of Beaufort, South Carolina.  They became the parents of four daughters and a son.  He and Ellen made their retirement home in Beaufort, where she died in 1988.  He later married Jane Ridings of Beaufort and together they moved to Bishop Gadsden, where Jane died in 2005.

Paul's life was characterized by love of God, love of family, love of music and love of poetry.  He served as a church officer and Sunday school teacher in nearly every church he affiliated with.  He was known by all as a gentle and godly man.  His example to his five children led all of them into ministries in churches and charitable organizations.

Paul is survived by his five children: Kay Merrill, Beaufort, SC; Martha Hays and husband Robert, Pearl, MS; Paul Albert (Bert) Emmons and wife Kris, Webster Groves, MO; Harriet Pegram and husband John, Chapel Hill, NC; and Mary Boyd and husband Jim, Farragut,  TN; nine grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.  He is also survived by many devoted Kinghorn nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at Bishop Gadsden at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, September 23, followed by a graveside service for the family at the Baptist Church of Beaufort cemetery.

The Emmons family gratefully acknowledges the staff at Bishop Gadsden for their friendship and tender care over the years.  The staff of Odyssey Hospice also provided comfort in easing Paul's final journey.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Employee Appreciation Fund at Bishop Gadsden (One Gadsden Way, Charleston, SC 29412) or Beaufort County Open Land Trust (P.O. Box 75, Beaufort, SC 29901).

Lamentations 3:22-23: It is of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.

Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR, INC., WEST ASHLEY CHAPEL.