Clyde Emery

Clyde J. Emery, 86, of Dothan passed away Monday, July 23, 2012 at Wesley Manor.

A memorial service will be 10 am Thursday, July 26, 2012 at Sunset Funeral Home with Chaplain Cartmill officiating. Burial with full Military Honors will follow in Sunset Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 5-7 pm Wednesday at the funeral home.

Clyde was born March 6, 1926 near Ithaca, Michigan to the late Clyde and Bertha Emery. His father died when he was a child. His mother and six older siblings cared for him until he joined the U. S. Navy to go to war at the age of 16. His love and pride for his family and country never waived. Clyde was a career soldier and aviator and he served his country on the aircraft carrier USS Belleau Wood in WWII, on the ground as a combat medic during the Korean War, and as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. As an Army pilot, he was on the Helicopter Demonstration Square Dance Team. In 1954, he was selected as one of the first flight instructors in the newly opened aviation school at Camp Rucker. He also served as a DAC helicopter instructor pilot for many years after retirement from the Army in 1965.  Clyde was very proud of his service and felt very fortunate to be able to take part in one of the last Honor Flights to Washington D.C. He was a kind and gentle man that loved his family every day of his life and he was always there for them. His strength of character, his kindness, and his love will survive him as the inheritance bestowed upon his sons.

Clyde was preceded in death by his parents, his 6 siblings, and a son Michael Emery.

Survivors include his wife Mary Jane Emery of Dothan; sons, LTC Joseph Christie Emery of Dothan, and David Emery of Midland City; grandchildren, Cynthia Bret Dodson, Jamie Thomas Mealor, Christopher Emery, Alexander Emery, Nicholas Emery, Samuel Emery, Rebecca Emery, and Jennifer Bailey; great-grandchildren, Holden Dodson, Fletcher Dodson, Mary Jane Mealor, and Janice Bailey; niece and nephews, Vickie Alleman of Dothan, Richard Alleman of Michigan, and John Walinda Alleman of North Carolina; a sister-in-law Arlene Emery of Michigan; several nieces, nephews, cousins and friends also survive.