CORINNA – Jerome Adolphus Emerson, 91, husband of the late Hazel Brown Emerson, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007, surrounded by loving family members at his home, after a brief illness. He was born Dec. 20, 1915, in Lincoln, the son of James A. and Zelda A. (Sweet) Emerson. His family moved from Camden to North Newport in 1917 and to Corinna in 1918 and located at the corner of the St. Albans Road and the Packard Road, where some members of the family lived into the 1990s. In 1938, Jerome and his late wife, Hazel, moved to his present home on the Pleasant Vale Road where they established a poultry business which lasted until their retirement in 1974. At age 4, Jerome began school in the local one-room school located next to the family farm. His mother was his first teacher. Jerome entered Corinna Union Academy in the fall of 1928 and served as president of his class during his four years of high school. He graduated as salutatorian in 1932. In the fall of 1933, Jerome entered the University of Maine at Orono where he studied for two years. Jerome was a self-employed poultry farmer for 36 years. He served as selectman or assessor for the town of Corinna from 1937 to 1956. Jerome joined Parian Masonic Lodge No. 160 in 1942, and served as master in 1948 and 1949, and received his 55-year membership pin in 2002. Also a member of DeMolay Commandery, he became a member of Anah Shrine in 1954. He was elected to the board of trustees of CUA in 1948, vice-president in 1964, and served as president for 34 of the 57 years he was on the board. In 2006, he was made an honorary member of the CUA Trustees Board. Jerome represented Corinna on the first board of directors of the Maine School Administrative District No. 48 from 1967 to 1969. His legislative service began with his election in 1952 to serve out the term of his father who was elected in the fall of 1951 and because of sickness was unable to serve. He was re-elected as a member of the Maine House of Representatives for the 96th session in 1953. In the fall of 1978, he was elected to the Maine Senate and was a member of that body for the next 14 years, 109th-115th sessions. During his tenure in Augusta, he served under Governors Payne, Cross, Brennan, and McKernan. Jerome joined Maine Farm Bureau in 1954 and served as president for 11 years beginning in the-mid 1950s. He had been a member for 50-plus years. He was elected to Penobscot County Board in 1955, president of the county board in 1957; and member of the Maine Farm Bureau Board in 1958, president of board in 1960. Jerome served on the board of American Farm Bureau Federation, and on the board of Farm Family Insurance Companies. Other civic positions Jerome has served on at various times are the Comprehensive Planning Committee, the planning board, and the board of appeals for his community. In 1978, Jerome spent the summer as an Agriculture Missionary, Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. In the spring of 2000, he was initiated into the Stillwater Society of the University of Maine; and in the fall he was elected to the board of the Page Farm and Home Museum of the University of Maine. On Oct. 20, 2006, Jerome was presented with the Hugh Murphy Volunteer of the Year Award by the board of directors of the Page Farm and Home Museum for his dedication to the Museum’s mission of promoting agricultural awareness to school-age children. As an active member of the Corinna United Methodist Church, Jerome has served as a lay leader, chairman of the administrative board and finance committee. He was a trustee, choir member and along with his late wife, Hazel, were the first leaders of the Couples Club. Recently, Jerome was elected a director of the Sunshine Village Corporation. Jerome was a life member of the Corinna Historical Society. Surviving are his adopted daughter, Jacqueline A. Emerson of Corinna; brother, Kenneth R. and his wife, Charlene B. Emerson, of Corinna; nephews, James P. Emerson and wife, Susan J., and their children, Heather L. Kerstetter and Timothy James “TJ” Emerson, Allen Emerson and his wife, Sandra, and their sons, Brandon and Kyle; nieces, Carleen E. Davis and husband, Daniel, and their children, James D., Suanne M., Ryan G., Daniel S. II “Dusty,” Terri Lee Murray and husband, James “Butch,” and their daughters, Shana Anderson and Michelle Paradis; sisters-in-law, Ethel Hamlin of Etna, and Grace Smart of Newport; other family members and many close friends. He was predeceased by his wife, Hazel, March 19, 1999. Visitation with the family will be 6-7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31., at Crosby & Neal Chapel, 68 Exeter Road, Corinna, where a Masonic service will be held at 7 p.m. A celebration of life will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, at Corinna United Methodist Church with the Rev. Sharon Lovejoy officiating. Interment will be at Nutter Cemetery, Corinna. In lieu of flowers, it is requested that memorial funds be made in Jerome’s memory to Stewart Free Library or the Corinna Union Academy Scholarship Fund, care of Jackie Emerson, 132 Pleasant Vale Road, Corinna, ME 04928-3405. Those who wish may sign an online register at www.CrosbyNeal.com
JEROME A. EMERSON
