Emily Collier ¹

  General Notes:

Emily Collier Wilemon, 96, a retired school librarian, passed away Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005, in Clifton.

Emily Collier Wilemon was born Jan. 19, 1909, in Troup. She was the third of six children born to Lucy and J.D. Collier. She grew up in Troup, a small town in east Texas. Her father, a local merchant, and her mother, a homemaker, instilled in Emily a love of education and a strong work ethic.

At age 16, Emily went to attend college at Mary Hardin-Baylor. She had never been away from home before. She received a degree in English, but she loved other languages, studying Latin and Spanish.

She started teaching in Kerens where she met "Coach" Graydon Wilemon. They were married in 1933, and they had three children. He later became the superintendent of the Kerens schools. After raising her children, Emily returned to college and obtained her master's of library science degree. She soon became the school librarian.

In 1956, the family moved to Fort Worth. Emily became the librarian at Stripling Junior High School where she remained until her retirement.

During their retirement, Emily and Graydon divided their time between travel and doting on their grandchildren, with the grandchildren receiving the majority of the attention. Graydon maintained a wonderful garden and, much to Emily's delight, there were roses in the vase and tomatoes on the kitchen counter. Emily and Graydon always had their extended family over for Christmas Eve. Emily baked rolls from scratch and made peach preserves for her friends and family. Graydon died in 1997, having been married to Emily for 64 years.

Toward the end of her life, Emily was frail, but she could still get around. She remained sharp and enjoyed telling stories about growing up. Emily stressed that, at a time when the education of young women was not always a high priority, her parents made sure that she obtained a college education and studied the classics. Emily wanted to make sure that all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren loved learning. Her legacy is that all of her grandchildren graduated from college and several obtained postgraduate degrees.

Emily was a lifelong member of Broadway Baptist Church and was preceded in death by her husband, Graydon; and son, "G" Wilemon.

Emily married Graydon Henry Wilemon, son of William Pliney Wilemon and Minnie Ruth Tirey, in 1933. (Graydon Henry Wilemon was born on 16 Jul 1901 in Texas, died on 26 Jul 1997 in Texas and was buried in Maypearl Cemetery, Maypearl, Ellis County, Texas ².)