Dr. Alice Marie Emerson, age 69, of Jefferson City, Mo., passed away Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at The Bluffs in Columbia, Mo.
Alice was born on April 13, 1953 in Endicott, New York, a daughter of Dr. Marion Preston and Jane C. (Barber) Emerson.
Alice spent the majority of her childhood living in Emporia, Kansas and was a 1970 graduate of Roosevelt High School on the Emporia State University campus. She received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Emporia State University in 1974. She furthered her education with a master’s degree in anthropology (with an emphasis on archeology) from Wichita State University in Kansas.
Afterwards, Alice moved to Pullman, Washington where she got her doctorate degree in anthropology (archeology) from the Washington State University. She received a prestigious NSF grant for her extensive and significant research on how prehistoric Native Americans procured and processed their bison. She even learned to field dress a bison as they had once done. While she was at Washington State University, she traveled the country doing contract field work and research, focusing her time on the Delores Project in Colorado, and other projects in North Dakota.
When Alice later realized that she couldn’t physically do the field work anymore, she switched her focus to psychology because of her interest in helping others. Therefore, after about 20 years as an archeologist, she went back to school to study psychology. She would receive her second doctoral degree in counseling psychology, from Washington State University. She then began her career as a university counseling psychologist helping students at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. Alice continued this profession for about 14 years until her retirement. She then moved back to central Missouri in 2022 to be closer to her family.
She had a great love of learning, enjoyed listening to a variety of topics on National Public Radio, and spent a great deal of time reading in order to better help her students. Alice also enjoyed helping her parents with their genealogy hobby, and had a life long interest in bird watching. She was described by friends and family as “a very dear, gentle person with a quiet calming presence and a wonderful sense of humor.” She was “truly an amazing person who was dearly loved by all.”
Survivors include: her mother, Jane Emerson of Jefferson City, Mo.; sister, Anne Hutton (Tom) of Jefferson City, Mo.; brother, Bill Emerson (Irene Spahr) of Arvada, Co.; three nieces, Erin Weiss (Andrew), Meghan Chockley, and Marika Emerson (David Setchel); two cousins, David Hallock (Molly) and Sarah Adderholt (Bryan).
She was preceded in death by her father, Marion Emerson; her cousin, Jane Baillargeon (Jim); her uncle, Bill Emerson (Ruth); and recently, her aunt Anne Hallock (Richard).
A private graveside service and interment will be held at Maplewood Cemetery near Exeter, Mo.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Dr. Marion and Jane Emerson Scholarship Fund through the Emporia State University Alumni Foundation to help students within the mathematics program. Please mail donations to P.O. Box 95, Jefferson City, Mo. 65102.
Funeral arrangements are under the care of Freeman Mortuary.