Leaving her mark

There are pieces of June Emory all around Mountain Brook.

The flagpole at Memory Triangle outside Crestline Village: dedicated to her. The large brass urns and statue at City Hall: donated by her. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church: co-founded by her. And most of all, there is the memory of her. 

June Emory, who died Sept. 4 at the age of 97, attended all Mountain Brook City Council meetings and most Planning Commission meetings until two to three years ago. She always made her voice heard, and she did so because she was proud of her city, where she had lived since 1940 — before Mountain Brook was even incorporated.

“She loved the city and its employees,” City Manager Sam Gaston said. “We were like an extended family for her as she would drop by to see us several times a month. She was like your mother, as far as city government was concerned. She was one of its greatest supporters and, at the same time, could be one of its toughest critics. She always spoke her mind.”

At her funeral, there were four mayors — Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato, Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch, and former Mountain Brook mayors Terry Oden and Margaret Porter.

“She’s known every mayor since the beginning, and it was her job to keep them straight — [a] self-appointed job,” said Sandy Emory, June Emory’s daughter-in-law.

As he received letters from the community following his mother’s death, Brooks Emory said he got one from a former mayor.

“She apparently came to a [City Council] meeting late, and announced to whoever was sitting in her seat that that was her seat. Basically booted them out,” said Brooks Emory, who is the only of his four siblings to still live in Mountain Brook.

They have heard from former and current council members, as well as members of the fire and police departments, all of whom have positive memories of June Emory. 

“They just showed their love and, I think, appreciation of her caring,” Sandy Emory said.  “And sometimes it wasn’t always positive or welcome, but she was there. And she was forthright in her opinions and suggestions. She took it very seriously.”

“Jesse Vogtle, the other day, told me, ‘Your mother taught me city council,’” said Brooks Emory, referring to the former council member.

June Emory was always the type to be involved, Brooks and Sandy Emory said. She was women’s chairman for the National Veteran’s Day Celebration, a former board member for the American Red Cross, a volunteer at the Birmingham Museum of Art for 51 years, president of the Crestline Elementary School PTO, and during World War II, a Gray Lady at Hillman Hospital and volunteer Air Raid Warden. 

And her involvement with the city, including her attendance of meetings and out-spoken nature, came from her love of the city, said Brooks Emory, and the fact that she was there from the beginning.

“We were living on Dexter Avenue before there was a Mountain Brook. We lived in the county. When it [the city] grew and developed, she got very involved and stay involved in it,” Brooks Emory said.

 “She was passionate about knowing the inner workings and being committed to just serving as a civilian, an individual,” Sandy Emory said, adding that June Emory wanted everyone to know how great Mountain Brook was and to help keep it that way. “She was just vitally interested in the workings of the city, and felt that every-body should do their part.” 

And as she stayed active before she died, June Emory was always honored when the community recognized her, according to her daughter-in-law.

“I think it meant as much to her as anything in her life when the City Council honored her by the triangle in Crestline,” Sandy Emory said. 

“It was very important to her,” Brooks Emory said, as were the gifts she gave to the city. “She was very interested in giving stuff to the city and doing things for the city.”  

June Emory was also proud of her family and its stories. Just as she passed items on to the city, she did the same with family heirlooms and their stories.

“She was also passionate about her things that had been passed from her parents, Brooks’ grandparents, to her,” said Sandy Emory. “And it was really important to her that these things be passed [to] not just us, but to our children and on and on. She had a love and an abiding interest on family history and just passing it along.”

“She wants to be remembered,” Brooks Emory said.

And she will be.