Mr. John Endicott Emerson

John Endicott Emerson, Age 97 of 81 Fox Farms Road, Northampton, MA died March 26, 2012 at Cooley Dickenson Hospital, Northampton, MA Born in Danvers, Ma on April 15 1914, he was the son of the late George Waldo Emerson and Susan Mabel (Hood) Emerson. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and in 1937 from Dartmouth College. He Came to Northampton from Exeter, NH in 1938, where he resided ever since. For 30 years he was the Business Manager and Director of Development of the Mary A. Burnham School in Northampton, retiring in 1968 when that girl’s college preparatory school merged with the Stoneleigh School in Greenfield to become Stoneleigh-Burnham School. For several years during this same period he also served as Business Manager of the Stoneleigh School and also of Burnham-by-the-Sea, a summer school for girls in Newport, R.I. After his retirement he served as a Trustee for Stoneleigh-Burnham School. He was a member of the First Church of Northampton, the Northampton Historical Society, and he was an honorary life-time member of the Danvers Historical Society. He was very active in the preservation of the birthplace of General Israel Putnam of Revolutionary War fame in Danvers, MA, the home also being his own birthplace. After he and a brother and a sister inherited this property upon the death of their mother in 1965, they set up a trust for the purpose of preserving and making available to the public this historic homestead along with its vast collection of antique furnishings and memorabilia which had accumulated in the spacious house during the span of over 300 years of ownership by the same family. He served as Managing Trustee of the property for the next 25 years until 1990, when the three family members terminated the trust and donated the homestead, along with all its contents to the Danvers Historical Society to own and manage the homestead which is included on the National Register of Historic Places. During the 1950’s he had served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, and of the Hampshire County Red Cross. His hobbies include travel, gardening and golf. He had been a member of the Amherst, Pine Grove and East Mountain Country Clubs. Survived by several nieces and nephews, he was predeceased by three sisters: Elizabeth Capen Emerson Kelley of Augusta, Maine, Eunice Emerson Raymond of Palm Springs, California and Miriam Putnam Emerson Peters with whom he resided, and three brothers: Galo Putnam Emerson, Sr. of Amherst MA, Edward E, Emerson, Sr. of Strafford, Vermont, and George Waldo Emerson, Jr, of Newport, RI Funeral Notice: Graveside Services for John E. Emerson will take place at the Daniel and Jesse Putnam Burial Ground, Danvers, MA, the family cemetery, 12:00 Monday April 2, 2012. Calling hours will be held at his home, 81 Fox Farms Road, Florence, MA Sunday April 1, 2012 from 2: to 4:00pm. Dwyer Funeral Home, 776 North St., Pittsfield, MA (413) 442-5094 is handling the arrangements. Memorial gifts may be made to the Survival Center, 265 Prospect St, Northampton, MA 01060 or the Jessie’s House 143 West Street, Northampton, MA 01060.

Mr. John Endicott Emerson

April 15, 1914 - March 26, 2012