Nona (Figgatt) Emery

07/11/13 - Dr. Nona Emery passed away May 26, 2013 at age 74 of leukemia. The family is having a private Remembrance Service at a later date. Nona regretted the need to urgently leave her Torrance medical practice in 2009 without the ability of saying individual personal goodbyes to many whom she truly adored and respected.  

Nona’s greatest love was her family, her five “boys”; four sons and husband Clyde as the honorary 5th boy. Nona was a dedicated Wife and Mother. She lived every moment of her life with curiosity, industriousness, and always Love. She also had pizzazz and a love of life. Her family, with roars of laughter and sweetness, and Nona beaming, recalled many times their lifetime of family dinners and get togethers. One of her favorites was the time when the biggest “boy” at the dinner table exclaimed, “What – are we eating this stuff again?”, and promptly – compliments of Nona - found a large wooden salad bowel filled with lettuce and dressing – dripping down his head!

Nona was kind, loving, gentle and wise. She enjoyed running the Palos Verdes Marathons, taking extension classes at UCLA in poetry, and continued to study and play piano in her later years. Nona and Clyde shared the love of foreign peoples and cultures, taking adventurous trips abroad with their trusty backpacks.

There was no live in help. Nona maintained the home while navigating her career and caring for her patients; gently guiding and supporting her boys thru their endeavors; attending and cheerleading at their games and events. She marveled at nature and laughed and communicated exquisitely with young and old. Perhaps most importantly, she was expert at understanding people and making them feel valuable and special. This gift is what made her an outstanding professor, physician, wife, parent, grandparent and person. She will be greatly missed.

Nona was born near Chappaqua NY, to Ralph and Olive Figgatt. In 1957 Nona graduated with honors from Horace Greeley HS, Chappaqua, excelling in academics and cheerleading. In 1961 Nona graduated from Wellesley College in Biology. The summer of 1960 Nona met her future husband of 53 years, Clyde Emery, while working at a Yale Medical School laboratory. While living in New Haven Nona continued working at Yale and had two sons, Kenneth and Griffeth. In 1963 Nona, Clyde and the two infant boys moved to Syracuse NY where Nona started in a Ph.D. program in kidney physiology at Upstate Medical Center, the only female graduate student in the department.

In 1966 Nona’s husband Clyde was drafted as a surgeon to a MASH hospital in Vietnam, and in 1967 Nona completed her research and thesis for her Ph.D. while living alone in snowy Syracuse in a dingy apt with the two small boys and a newborn, Allyn – a time she often described as difficult.

Nona then moved with the boys to Bangkok Thailand to meet her husband after his stint in Vietnam. She joined the faculty of a Bangkok medical school, while employed by the Rockfeller Institute of Medicine, New York. Nona greatly enjoyed those years in Bangkok where her husband had reasonable working hours and they traveled extensively with their three sons, Ken, Griff, Allyn. In 1969 Nona moved to Sacramento and was on the faculty of UC Davis Medical School. In 1970 Nona delivered her fourth son, Leith.

In 1970 the family moved to Reno where Nona joined the faculty of the Univ of Nevada Medical School. Nona loved the outdoor activities of the High Sierra’s – water and snow skiing, backpacking, hiking, tennis. Nona became accomplished in all and loved participating with her family.

In 1974 the family moved to Rancho Palos Verdes, CA and Nona graduated from UCLA Medical School in 1976 with an MD, followed by an Internal Medicine internship. In 1977 she started a solo adult family practice in internal medicine. Nona practiced medicine in Torrance for 32 years. She loved her medical practice and caring for her patients, meeting people from all walks of life. She cared for some families thru four generations. Nona regretted the need to urgently leave her practice in 2009 without the ability of saying individual personal goodbyes to many whom she truly adored and respected.

Nona Emery Ph.D., M.D., was preceeded in death by her parents and is survived by her husband Dr. Clyde K. Emery, and four sons, Kenneth (wife Mary), Griffeth (wife Heidi), Allyn, Leith. She loved her six marvelous grandchildren, Cobi, Payton, Kaili, Ryan, Ethan and Hallie. She also loved her many nieces and nephews and their children. Nona had a specially close and supportive relationship with her surviving sister Susan Durham (husband Chris) of Holden, MA. Nona and her family extended their thanks to Dr Mary Territo of UCLA Oncology and Dr. Wade Nishimoto of Torrance. The family is having a private Remembrance Service at a later date.

The Emery family welcomes you to share memories and/or photos of Nona on Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/nona.emery.memorium

01/05/08 - Memories of the war years

I remember the day FDR died because most people in Chappaqua had cocktail parties and celebrated (that's what I heard!) except for my parents and a handful of others... Read More

10/28/07 email

The reason I have been slow in responding is that my computer died- Clyde loves analyzing and correcting computers- but at the present time I am unable to email photos etc... Read More

(Editor's note. The following email was received from Nona on 10/19/07)
Thanks for all your efforts at making the re-union come together so spectacularly.

I am so regretful that I was not able to be there.

I am enjoying all the photos, and talked to Jane Kett at great length about all of you who attended and your life stories.

My husband Clyde and I had a outstanding trip to the Balkans, including Albania, Bosnia, Maceonia, Croatia, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary. Lots of monastaries, basilicas, Roman ruins and more recent ruins. That area of the world has suffered more than its share of brutality, often instigated by the great powers situated around them. If we ever get our thousands of photos organized I will email some. We experienced some white-knuckle driving, especially in Albania where no one has driven more than ten years, and they drive down one-lane roads in their stolen Mercedes, three-in a row, at about 120mph. We survived.

I don't see any site with tel#'s or email addresses. I wanted to contact Judy Fay Wilson, Donahue etc. I had some great times with her in the past but lost contact since she lived in Lompoc. It was obvious then that she was an extremely gifted writer and person- what a life she has led! Do you have any contact addresses or numbers for her? I would like to read some of her work.

What a class we had. I remember at our last re-union thinking what an unusually good piece of humanity you all are! And seem to get better with age.

Thanks again Bill, for helping to put it together and also for your creative, hilarious entertaining communications! It seems you have led a most interesting life too, which was not unpredicted.
Fondly, Nona Emery

1997 recap. Nona married Clyde Emery and has 4 sons.  She has been a GP Physician since 1978.