Emma Douthat Park

Emma Douthat Park, age 95, went home to her Heavenly Father on November 13, 2022.  She was born on August 15, 1927 to Clyde B. Douthat and Emma James Douthat in Richlands, VA.  She attended George Washington High School in Alexandria, VA; Blackstone College in Blackstone, VA; Stratford College in Danville, VA; and the University of Maryland.

Emma met naval officer John (Jack) Spruance Park (USNA ’48) on a blind date in January of 1950, and their love flourished.  On October 7, 1950 they were married at the Metropolitan Memorial Methodist Church in Washington, DC.   John Jr. arrived in April 1952, and Stephen was born in July 1953.  Son Richard came along in May 1958.  The family lived in Southampton, PA for five years, and Edison, NJ for 23 years.  Emma’s top priority was the care and nurturing of her three sons.  Their upbringing was church-focused, and her unending love was demonstrated each and every day.  Family vacations were special, and everyone was content to follow dad’s lead when it came to supporting Phillies baseball and Navy football. When the boys’ sporting events or boy scout activities didn’t keep them close to home, the family made many trips to their cottage retreat in Ocean City, NJ, where days were spent on the beach, walking on the boardwalk, or playing games around the kitchen table.

While living in Edison, Emma served as a correspondent for The News Tribune, taught sewing classes, and did office work for a local CPA.  When her children moved away for college, she took on a full-time job as Secretary to the Purchasing Manager for Hess Oil.

Upon Jack’s retirement in 1983, the couple moved to Ocean City, NJ. Together they enjoyed this quiet, family-oriented town, as well as periodic road trips to visit family and friends across the nation.  They enjoyed touring historical sites, attending Phillies spring training baseball games in Florida, and just being together.  Emma’s hobbies included reading, sewing, propagating indoor plants, and documenting family history.

Emma always put others before herself, and her beautiful smile and kindness welcomed everyone she met.  Her warmth, caring, and humor always brought true joy to those who knew her, and it was her faith and spirit that made her so beloved by people from all walks of life.  Emma was a volunteer for many years for the Ocean City Pops Orchestra, the OC Historical Museum, and for the American Red Cross.  Closest to her heart, though, was being a 50-year member of P.E.O., an international philanthropic educational organization.

In September 2005, Emma and Jack became residents of Fleet Landing Retirement Community in Atlantic Beach, FL.

Emma is predeceased by her loving husband of 70 years, and her son John S. Park, Jr.  Survivors are son Stephen and his wife Kay; son Richard and partner Elizabeth; Daughter-in-Law Pamela; four grandchildren, Daniel, Margaret (Maggie), Stephen Jr., and Lauren; and three great grandchildren, Harper, Jackson, and Madison Emma. 

A celebration of Emma’s life will be held at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, Emma had asked that donations be made to Hospice in the name of John Spruance Park, or to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in the name of John S. Park, Jr.