Emma Jean Gunderson, 86, of Mansfield, Texas passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 21, 2020, after a lengthy battle with lung disease. She was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 19, 1933, daughter of William Edward and Dorothy Anderson Gunderson. She has one living sister, Dorothy Rebecca (Becky) Gunderson, and is predeceased by brothers Darrell William Gunderson and Wayne Donald Gunderson. She was raised in a Christian home and attended the Lutheran Church. At the age of three, her family moved to the lower Rio Grande Valley, Mission, Texas. From age 16 until she married in 1955, she lived in Nogales, Arizona, but later moved with her husband to Southern California. Emma Jean was married twice, first to Richard Chester Preston from 1955-1959. The couple had one son, Richard William Preston, born May 19, 1958 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Little Bill”, as he was affectionately called, died at age 14 in a bicycle accident. She was also married for a short time to David Gillis.
Emma Jean attended grammar and middle schools in Mission, Texas, as well as Mission High School and Nogales High School. She graduated from the University of Arizona, Tucson in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Education. Then, in 1959, she moved to California to attend the University of Southern California (USC), where she achieved a Master of Science in Education in 1962, specializing in business subjects. She went on to earn a Doctorate of Higher Education, specializing in Business and Educational Psychology in 1973. Emma Jean was a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority and many other professional and honorary organizations, where she served in various leadership roles.
Emma Jean had a distinguished, life-long career as an educator. She began teaching high school business subjects in Kirkland, New Mexico. Later, she became a college professor at the University of Southern California (USC). She was also a professor at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). She retired from CSULB in 1997, but continued to teach business communications during summer sessions. After retiring, Emma Jean moved to Colorado (Colorado Springs and Fort Collins) to be near her mother. More recently, she relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth Texas area (Mansfield) to be near her nieces.
Emma Jean loved reading, crocheting, working crossword puzzles, playing bridge and handcrafts. She has donated hundreds of crocheted blankets to Project Linus, an organization that provides comfort blankets to children in hospitals, shelters and social service agencies. Emma Jean traveled and cruised extensively with friends and family. She has visited England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Holland, Costa Rica, Honduras, Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, Japan, China, Thailand, Bali, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Caribbean Islands.
Survivors:
Sister: Dorothy Rebecca Gunderson of Fort Collins, Colorado
Nieces: Shawn Gunderson Coons (husband Christopher Davis) and her daughters Hillary Dewing (husband Andrew) and Jillian Coons
Suzanne Gunderson Crisafulli (husband Chris) and their daughters Isabelle, Emily and Abigail Crisafulli
Aunt Della D’Errico and her descendants
Aunt Merlin Miller’s descendants
Emma Jean’s final resting place is the Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18