Thomas Gillen Emde

Thomas Gillen Emde passed away on January 3, 2020 at age 89 of natural causes and general orneriness. He was born on August 24, 1930 to Thomas and Neva Emde in Bald Knob, Arkansas. Growing up on a family farm, he learned that money doesn’t necessarily make you rich; you weren’t poor if you had love and plenty to eat; and no matter how much you hated picking strawberries, it was better than trying to plow with mules. Gillen graduated from Bald Knob High School in 1948 where he excelled in sports playing football, basketball and track. Despite his best efforts, he graduated from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa and later earned a teaching degree at Arkansas State Teachers College where he met his future wife Margaret Jane Mason, who was clearly having vision problems when they met. They were married April 1, 1955 initiating the longest April Fool’s joke in history until she preceded him in death on October 15, 2009 after 54 years of marriage. Gillen spent most of his career as an educator in Bald Knob, Arkansas and Cedar Falls, Iowa before retiring after a tenure as the principle of Bullion Plaza Elementary School in Miami, Arizona. Gillen had a well-rounded life which is code word for “easily distracted.” He served in the Arkansas National Guard, was a farmer, a minister, an educator, a businessman, and was both a private and corporate pilot. He and Jane traveled extensively throughout the US, Europe and Asia chasing grandchildren and satisfying Jane’s itch for travel while staying one step ahead of the revenuers. Gillen’s true passion was music. He was an excellent pianist who enjoyed many styles of music but Dixieland Jazz was closet to his heart. He was a natural musician who couldn’t read music but could play virtually anything by ear and had the ability to pick up a musical instrument and be able to play it almost immediately. His children have treasured memories of going to bed as youngsters in Iowa while their father serenaded them from the piano downstairs with George Gershwins’ “Rhapsody in Blue” or Ray Noble’s “Cherokee.” Gillen was a dedicated father of four children, grandfather of seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren. A patient father who admittedly left most of the disciplining to his wife, he still had to raise three rambunctious boys who learned to dread the phrase, “Wait until your father gets home.” He taught all his children to drive but, having been a child of the Great Depression, he was also famously tight with a penny. While he provided his kids with plenty of vehicles to hone their skills on, they were primarily the kind you could dent repeatedly and not really notice. While he was an unexpected animal lover in his golden years, in his younger years was more of an animal tolerator who merely didn’t object when his wife or children brought home dogs, cats, a raccoon, ferrets, an owl, a hawk, snakes, lizards, a bat, rats, rabbits, gerbils, and a beaver as “pets.” Actually, he did object, but everyone just ignored him. He took it all in stride knowing, eventually, they would finally go to college and leave him in peace. He is survived by his loving daughter Lece Miller (Robert Miller) of Bald Knob, AR; his sons Brad Emde of Bald Knob, AR; Scott (Lisa) Emde of Tabb, VA; and Jeff (Danna) Emde of Tucson, AZ; his grandchildren Whitney (Miller) West (Joshua) of New York City; Michelle (Emde) Nation (Robert) of Grafton, VA; Rachel Emde of Seaford, VA; Scott Emde, Jr. of Newport News, VA; Damon Emde (Heidi) of Washington DC; and Taylor Emde of Plano, TX; and his great grandchildren Trevor, Cody, Tanner, Mia, Archer, Ellis, Alexandra and Elena. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jane Emde and his grandson, Devon Miller. Cremation arrangements entrusted to Powell Funeral Home Bald Knob-Judsonia. www.powellfuneralhome.net The family will hold a memorial service at a later date.

Thomas Gillen Emde

August 24, 1930 - January 3, 2020