Once upon a time a little girl child descended into the arms of her parents, Risa and Pattiebuff, and joined her brothers Micah and Bjorn. She was named Emily in honor of her maternal grandfather, Emil.
Emily was a sturdy lass. Quick to laugh and she fiercely stood her ground. She commanded attention and gave wholly of herself in her attention to others.
A 2004 graduate of Pleasant Hill high school, Emily had already begun to feel the injustice and inequity of our current culture. She was not ready for college. Emily had a lot of sorting to do. She spent a summer with the Forest Service in the Lowell Ranger District. She worked at the Dexter Market. Emily, barely 5ft. 4in., bantered with loggers and negotiated with unpredictable clientele. Another year was spent at a compact disc wrapping plant in West Eugene.
While her parents were away at Friends General Conference and North Pacific Yearly Meeting’s annual session in Tacoma, Washington, Emily was taken to the emergency room by a friend who thought she didn’t seem OK. She wasn’t; her kidneys had been stressed from dehydration. Emily took this wake-up call as a sign to move to Portland and begin her college education.
Emily graduated from Portland Community College and Portland State University. She was a member of the Vikings crew team. Always one to engage in physical activity, she rowed in the Dexter Lake Regatta with her family and friends cheering her on.
Community health and well-being became her calling; she completed a Masters in Public Health at PSU. Emily returned to Eugene to an internship with Lane County Public Health where she was subsequently hired.
Emily attended Eugene Monthly Meeting as a child and Junior Friend. While living in Portland she attended Multnomah Monthly Meeting. She served as a Junior Friends advisor for Multnomah Monthly Meeting, North Pacific Yearly Meeting, and Eugene Monthly Meeting. Being among Junior Friends was one of Emily’s greatest joys. She often shared how much she learned from them and how much she treasured her experience with Junior Friends.
Emily’s last year was a testimony of paying attention.
She had been having health issues and she was receiving care. But her situation was complicated and some of it was possibly congenital. During much of Emily’s life, she had focused a lot on the Physical Realm. Now she was being led to pay attention to the Spiritual Realm. Emily listened, studied, and practiced. Tragically, for those left behind, Emily - profoundly unexpectedly - found her path which is one we mortals cannot travel just yet.
Please know that, although not in her physical form, Emily is with us now - encouraging us to be who we are.
The family invites Friends to donate to Food for Lane County’s GrassRoots Garden in Emily’s memory.
On February 5, 2022, Eugene Friends held a celebration of life, with the theme of “Turn to Joy,” Emily’s mantra. Zoom made it possible for 120 friends and family to attend from all over the country to share our grief and our memories. Emily changed lives for the better for school friends, co-workers, and young Quakers—in fact, everyone she came into contact with. The sense of the meeting for worship was a common resolution to carry forward Emily’s legacy of love and acceptance as the best way to honor her.