Elmer Embs was born August 22, 1928, in Louisville, Kentucky and died peacefully, surrounded by his family, on January 26, 2012. Elmer married Patricia Muldoon in May 1952, two years after he graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville. He took a job with DuPont, the company for which he would work for the next 39 years. After a stint at DuPont’s Wilmington, Delaware plant, Elmer was assigned to the startup team which would open a new DuPont plant in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Three years later, the Embs’ moved to Tokyo, where Elmer helped to start up the first DuPont plant in Japan. They settled in Beaumont in 1963, where he worked as superintendent of the Hypalon and Nordel plants at the Beaumont works. He held the staff position of Employee Relations Superintendent when he retired in 1990.
A kind, giving and moral man, Elmer was involved in various business, church and community organizations, having served on the Finance Committee and as a Eucharistic Minister at St. Anne Catholic Church, a member of the Beaumont Planning and Zoning Commission, and as a member of other clubs and committees too numerous to list. His dedication to the importance of truth, fairness and ethical conduct was obvious in all that he undertook.
However, the most important thing to Elmer was his family. His marriage to Pat was almost like a fairy tale, and served as an example of true love and devotion to his family and their many friends. There was never any doubt in the minds of his four children that their mother and they came first. Through his 6 year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, Elmer was impeccably cared for by Pat and his daughter Kris, with his other three children always close by to help in whatever way needed. Yes, Elmer loved his family and that love was returned times five!
He is survived by his wife, Pat Embs; daughters, Susan Embs Cohen and her husband, Brian, Linda Embs LeBlanc and her husband, Antoine, and Kris Embs Montalbano and her husband, Johnny; daughter-in-law, Karen Ferguson Embs; twenty grandchildren; and fifteen great-grandchildren.
Elmer was preceded in death by his son, Steve Embs.
A Christian Vigil will be held 5:30 p.m. Sunday, January 29, 2012, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11:00 a.m. Monday, January 30, 2012, at St. Anne Catholic Church, 2715 Calder, Beaumont with interment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, under the direction of Broussard’s.
Memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s Association, 700 North Street, Suite M, 77701 or the Elmer E. and Patricia Muldoon Embs Scholarship in Chemical Engineering at Lamar University, P.O. Box 11500, Beaumont, Texas 77710. Please make checks payable to Lamar University Foundation.
