Emil was a farmer, a soldier, an engineer, a manager, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a Christian.  As a farmer, Emil was born at Waverly, WA. He was raised on the farm his grandfather homesteaded (the farm became a centennial farm and Emil a PIONEER of the state of WA). The farm was very diversified including milk cows, orchard, horses, garden, pigs, chickens, hay, and field crops. The lessons learned on the farm during the depression years served Emil well throughout his life. He attended Waverly Grade School for eight years and Fairfield High School for four years, graduating from good old FHS in 1948.

He graduated from Washington State College where he was president of his Fraternity (AKL) and Lutheran Students. He also was member of Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Phi, Sigma Tau, Phi Beta Sigma, and Scabbard & Blade honoraria.

Emil met the love of his life Janna M. St-John at a country dance in 1951 when he was a Junior at WSC. They dated for a year at college while they both went to school at WSC and married in 1952. As a soldier he went on active duty with the army and served as 1st Lt. in a Combat Construction Battalion in support of the Air Force. He remained in the Army Reserves as a Corp. of Engineers Officer having numerous assignments, such as helping with the construction of the dams on the Snake River, helping Benton County Emergency Services and reviewing operations at some army bases. He graduated from the Command and General Staff College and taught at this college during his Active-Duty tours for a number of years. In 1990 he retired as a Colonel and was given the Meritorious Service Award.

As an engineer, Emil’s main career was spent at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland. He started as a Reactor Engineer with General Electric and worked at all 9 of the production reactors. In 1962 he became a Licensed Professional Engineer and held classes to help other engineers pass the exams to become licensed as Professional Engineers in the State of WA.  At the N Reactor (the new production Reactor which produced nuclear material and steam for electrical power) he was responsible for defining and writing the test program for its start-up and raise to full power. The training for this program included 30 days aboard the Nuclear Ship Savanna to get trained on a high temperature high pressure reactor. The startup of N Reactor went so well that Emil received the General Managers Award from the GE Company for this program. Emil continued his education, receiving an MBA from the U of W in 1973.  As a manager, came stints as Supervisor of Process engineering – GE, Supervisor of Process Analysis-DUN, Manager of Nuclear Safety for all 9 reactors and fuel manufacturing, Manager of N Plant Operations -UNC Nuclear and as Manager of Restoration and Remediation Safety Analysis Group, directing his efforts at making sure the cleanup work at Hanford was conducted safely.

As a Christian, Emil was active in his church and the community. Organizations he was also active in included ROA, ASME, ANS, Spaulding PTA, Richland Lutheran Church (RLC), Luther Senior Center (LSC), WA Operation Thank You, founding Board Member Tri-City Chaplaincy and continued service with the Tri-City Chaplaincy.

Awards Included: National Defense Service Medal, Army Reserve Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Army Meritorious Service Metal & DUN Inc.’s Award of Merit.

He enjoyed gardening, swimming and helped at grade schools by tutoring. He was interested in genealogy, writing up the history of his grandparents and his parents. This effort climaxed in getting the family farm designated a “Centennial Farm”. He was active on the Boards of The Meadows North Homeowners Association and, Reserve Officers Association.

He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Janna; daughter and son-law Jenifer and Larry Haler; son and daughter in-law Erlan and Jan Leitz; grandsons Earl Leitz and Kurtis Leitz, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and their families.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to either: Richland Lutheran Church Good News Media Ministry or Tri-Cities Chaplaincy and Hospice.

A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, March 22nd at 10:00am at The Richland Lutheran Church, 901 Van Giesen Street, Richland, WA, 99354.