Susan Emrick Robertson

peacefully surrounded by loved ones on Friday, September 17, 2021.

Susan was born on August 10, 1946 in Shreveport, Louisiana to Josephine and Brooks Emrick.

Her father was an Air Force pilot and moved the family to several states, including Texas,

Georgia, and Ohio, thus creating a love of travel in Susan that remained throughout her life.

She had a lifelong thirst to gain knowledge and to share that with others. As a young woman,

while working in Aiken, South Carolina for former Senator Strom Thurman, Susan earned a BS

in English at the University of South Carolina. Aiken is where she met the love of her life, Jerry

Robertson, whom she married in 1970. They moved with their son, Joey, to Lynchburg, Virginia

and finally settled in Signal Mountain, Tennessee in 1976 where she put down lifelong roots.

She later attended Vermont College, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.

Susan had several careers throughout her life. She became a writer and published author. She

taught at Signal Mountain Junior High School for several years where she befriended and

nurtured her students, many of whom stayed in touch with her after graduation. One of her

greatest rewards was hearing from former students about how she influenced their lives. She

also taught writing classes at UTC. She had great respect for history and especially historical

houses. She restored several old homes and advised on reconstruction projects for others. She

was passionate about preservation and was an expert in antiques. This interest was passed on

to her son, daughter-in-law and grandsons and anyone else who happened to be nearby. She

became an antiques appraiser, and started an estate sale company which she enjoyed

enormously, until it came time to do the bookkeeping. She was very inclusive and loved to get

everyone she knew involved in the action.

She grew to love Signal Mountain and became a fervent advocate of preserving its special

character. She served on the Signal Mountain Town Council for eight years, including six years

as Vice-Mayor. She worked tirelessly to put in place policies intended to preserve the town’s

natural beauty and character so that future generations could enjoy the same quality of life that

she did.

Susan was preceded in death by both her parents, Josephine McDonald Stocks, and Brooks

Sullivan Emrick.

Surviving her are her husband, Jerry Robertson, son, Joseph Robertson and

his wife, Suzanne Robertson of Winston-Salem, NC, and grandsons, of whom she was

endlessly proud, Samuel Robertson of Kernersville, NC and John Robertson of Signal

Mountain, TN (when he isn’t sailing the world). Also surviving her are sisters Josephine

Littlehales and brother-in-law Bates Littlehales of Keller, VA, and beloved little sister, Martha

Emrick and brother-in-law Vaughn Brown of Millersville, MD., and her nephew Tom Bolt and his

wife Sophie and great niece Vera Bolt all of Toronto, Canada, and cousin Geoff Morgan and his

wife Kay Morgan of Birmingham, Alabama.

Susan especially enjoyed editing material written by her friends. Sadly, she will not be editing

this. Rest assured though, that if she had, it would be vastly different from what you see here.

In Memorial, you may make a donation to Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.advantagefranklin-strickland.com for the ROBERTSON family.