Noreen Casey Emerson

Nora “Noreen” Christia Casey Emerson passed away peacefully on December 21, 2023, hours after celebrating her 90th birthday. She is preceded in death by her husband, James O. “Jim” Emerson and her son, James Francis “Jimmy” Emerson, as well as her parents Raymond Paul “Ray” Casey and Bridget Mary “Bea” Jones Casey and sisters Margaret Patricia and Anna Mae Casey. Mrs. Emerson was the matriarch of an extended family, which was her pride and joy, and is survived by eleven of her children and their spouses: John (Sheila), Tom Battcock-Emerson (Freda), Margaret, Andrew (Judy), Ted (Sabina), Paul (Cathy), Tim, Mary Emerson Slimp (Ron), Brendan (Gwen), Eileen Emerson-Boles (Thomas) and Elizabeth Emerson, as well as nineteen grandchildren: Kathleen Emerson Timm (Andrew) and Sean Emerson; Shea, Flynn, Joe, Sam, and Maddie Battcock-Emerson; Michael, Patrick, and Kevin Emerson, Suzanne Emerson Carmody (Austin) and Ryan Emerson (Taylor); Casey and Christopher Emerson; Ronald Emerson “Remy” Slimp and Sarah Slimp; Elizabeth “Lizzy” and John “Jack” Emerson, and James Emerson Boles, as well as three great-grandchildren: Ian and Colin Emerson, and the youngest, Rhys Timm, whom she met days before her death. She is also survived by relatives in Ireland and the United States.

A native Washingtonian and a devout Catholic, Mrs. Emerson was committed to education: she attended the Dunblane School, Immaculata Seminary and Immaculata Junior College, before graduating from Trinity College, Washington, DC with a BA in History in 1955. She completed a Master’s Degree in European History at Catholic University and worked as an Archivist at the National Archives in the 1950s. Mrs. Emerson and her husband met at a Catholic Alumni Club dance in Washington, DC, and were married at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in 1957. In addition to raising her family, Mrs. Emerson was a member of St. Jane de Chantal Parish in Bethesda, Maryland, and active in the Sodality there. She and her husband were founding members of the De Chantal Home & School Association. In 1981, she returned to Trinity to study in the Education for Parish Service (EPS) program, after which she enjoyed another career teaching History and Religion at Dunblane Academy and Immaculata College High School, before retiring in 1988.

Mrs. Emerson traveled widely in the US and Europe with her husband and children, and particularly enjoyed visiting her remaining family in Ireland. A dedicated historian to the end, she continued to study European and particularly Irish history and kept meticulously detailed notes of her research, which made her a Jeopardy trivia master. A gifted artist and musician, Mrs. Emerson enjoyed painting in water color and regaling her family with show-tunes, Irish folksongs and Christmas carols on the piano.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to one of several institutions she supported: Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland, and St. John’s College High School in Washington, DC, as well as the St. Anthony Mission League, to which she was especially devoted.

Viewing will take place between 2 and 4 on Thursday, December 28th at DeVol Funeral Home in Gaithersburg, Md. Mass of Christian Burial will begin promptly with eulogy at 10:45 on Friday, December 29th at St. Jane De Chantal Catholic Church, with interment to follow immediately after the service at All Souls Cemetery in Germantown, Maryland.