Dennis James Emery

Dennis was born on February 18, 1945, in Albany, New York to the late Al and Helen Emery. He grew up at 173 Adams Street in Delmar, New York where he was mostly known as “Denny” or “Emo”. He graduated from Bethlehem Central High School in 1963 where he was President of his senior class. Even as a child Dennis had no patience for bullies or unkindness and believed deeply and passionately in social justice and the basic tenets of the Golden Rule, which he lived by all of his life. At BCHS Dennis lettered yearly in football, basketball and baseball and was known and loved by classmates for his athletic abilities, friendliness, geniality and leadership ability. For many years Dennis never missed a high school class reunion, and his accompanying family was often regaled with tales of his kindness and generosity toward others during his school years, particularly those who were in need of a friend or champion. For his entire life Dennis maintained a deep nostalgia for the Delmar of his childhood and for decades spent weeks in the area each summer with his beloved daughters, where his first stop was almost always Mike’s Submarine Shop in Colonie and then Magee Park on Kenwood Avenue where he and his late brother Brian grew up playing baseball. His NY summers often included Adirondacks stays at Schroon Lake with his dear Delmar area friends including the Cornelius, Tuzzolo and Thornton families.

Following his graduation from BCHS Dennis attended the University of Rochester, where he became a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity and earned a spot on the Yellowjackets baseball team as the starting center fielder. His college and baseball careers were unfortunately cut short in 1965 when he broke his neck in Miami Beach while diving into the surf on spring break; he spent months in the hospital immobilized in traction although a childhood friend who visited him there recalls that he was amazed to find Dennis “upbeat and in good spirits” despite the awfulness of his circumstances. A true medical marvel at the time, Dennis became the stuff of legend when he rose from paralysis to not only walk again, but to also attain a relatively envious golf game, play in the annual “Toilet Bowl” (nearly on par with the Orange Bowl or Sugar Bowl) with his dearest childhood friends, waterski every summer (once with his eldest daughter riding piggyback), teach his youngest daughter to play baseball, and challenge both of his daughters and any neighbor in the vicinity to annual backflip contests and footraces (not relinquishing his footrace champion title until 1990 when his youngest daughter, a Florida high school state track champion, finally outran him). Dennis also went on to eventually earn his bachelor’s and later his MBA degrees from various institutions. Of note, however, he framed his rejection letter from the Harvard Business School and hung it on his office wall as a badge of humility.

Dennis’s outgoing and engaging personality landed him a sales job with Johnson & Johnson which took him to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the early 1970s and in true Dennis form he became a proud Tulsan, residing there from 1974 until approximately 1994. For twenty plus years Dennis took great pride in his Tulsa homestead, convinced he had the best marigold bed in all of north-central Tulsa. He spent weekends doing yardwork and home renovations and grilling T-bone steaks that were the envy of the neighborhood. Most of Dennis’s working years were with the Ford Motor Company as a Labor Relations executive in Ford’s automotive glass division, first in Tulsa and later in Nashville, Tennessee.

From 1972 until his death Dennis was an unabashedly proud and enthusiastic “girl dad”, generally annoying everyone who knew him by boasting openly about his daughters to anyone who would listen (and many who preferred not to). He spent most of each year in the seventies and eighties eagerly anticipating his summers with his daughters; summers chock to the brim with travel, adventure and fun. Following Dennis’s death, a family friend commented that seeing a father love his daughters so “freely and happily” in those days was “a rare and wonderful thing”.

In 1996 Dennis married the love of his life, Debby Longwith McClure. In typical Dennis style, he was thrilled to add Debby’s large extended family to his own small brood and considered them all his own. He was particularly happy to have sisters for the first time in his life with the addition of Debby’s sisters, Kim and Sonya. In the early years of their marriage Dennis and Debby loved to travel, often with a large crew of family members in tow.

In 2008 Dennis and Debby embarked on the adventure of their lives when they purchased a historic 26 room bed and breakfast hotel in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. Over their 13 years as innkeepers at the Armours Hotel, Dennis and Debby delighted in welcoming family and old friends and in making new friends from all over the world. Dennis’s hospitality and his warmth and friendliness were second to none and will long be remembered by all who were fortunate enough to experience it. In 2021 Dennis and Debby finally retired officially and spent their remaining years together in the quiet of their northwest Arkansas country home bordering the Ozark National Forest.

Dennis had a great wit and loved to laugh, usually at his own expense. He was an avid reader and as such, a spelling and grammar perfectionist. He loved to play Scrabble, do crossword puzzles and sudoku, watch baseball and keep up with friends and loved ones on social media. His fondness and enthusiasm for a can of Pepsi, funnel cakes, popcorn, blooming onions and a Jersey Mike’s original Italian sub were legendary and will long be honored by the loved ones he leaves behind.

One friend’s recent spot-on description of Dennis’s family life is that he “headed a large family heavily biased toward generations of lovely women.” He was eminently proud to do so. Dennis is survived by Debby, his devoted and loving wife of 28 years, who in recent years never left his side. He is also survived by three daughters, Alison Emery and Amanda Emery, both of Jacksonville, Florida and Heather Walker of Tulsa, Oklahoma as well as two sons, Thomas McClure of Sand Springs, Oklahoma and Timothy McClure of Kellyville, Oklahoma. At the time of his death Dennis was “Grandpa Flash” to eight granddaughters and four grandsons as well as a multitude of nieces, nephews and extended family and friends whose presence in Dennis’s life brought him great joy.

Services will be private. The family plans to sponsor a spring 2025 Tri-Village 70th season recreational baseball team in honor of Dennis, who played in the very first Delmar area official Little League beginning in 1955. Donations can be sent to: Tri-Village, P.O. Box 164, Delmar, NY 12054 or by Venmo to @tri-village. Be sure to include the name “Emery” with any donations made in Dennis’s honor, and think of Denny the next time you enjoy a funnel cake or a perfectly cooked T-bone steak.