Emy was born in 1937, one of eight children raised in a small farm near Munich Germany. Her family was very poor as were all the small farm families at that time and even more so after the war. Emy and her young brother would go to bigger farms and beg for food but could never tell her mother as she would have forebode begging.
In 1951 Emy’s older sister married a GI and moved to America. In 1958 Emy was going to a fancy restaurant with her best friend and spotted Ed. He had a nice car and she ran up the steps to meet him. He spoke to her and she loved his voice. Promptly told her girlfriend, “he’s mine.”
Ed and Emy’s first home was a duplex in Omaha. Turns out the dwellers in the attached home were an Air Force man and a war bride from German. Emy felt so blessed to be with a fellow German woman who helped her acclimate to America and prevented homesickness. She also had two daughters old enough to babysit Ed and Emy’s three children.
Emy feels so fortunate to have her dreams come true. She had wanted to work or own a small grocery store. She ended up owning a garage sale business in Omaha and made tax free income for over 30 years. Ed was gainfully employed with Union Pacific railroad so they had good fortune all their lives.
Their two daughters lost their second oldest childred at different ages and then they both passed too soon as well. Ed passed in 1999. Her son and remaining daughter help Emy as she is now 85. Emy knits for her therapy. She donates hats, scarfs and gloves to four different charities here in Omaha for decades. She was knitting while she posed for this artist from Ukraine. She said that illustration will be at her funeral.
-Story reported by Emy’s friend, Linda Jones