December 21 2017: MARKHAM, Emerson

Emerson Markham (Age 90)

On Friday, December 15, 2017, of Silver Spring, MD.  Beloved husband of Julia Markham; father of David, Laura, Steven, Nadine, Robert and Claudia; grandfather of Amanda, Eli, Kyle, Alice, Amelia, Zack, Amber, Joseph and Julia.  Also survived by many loving family members and friends.  Memorial Service will be Celebrated at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 633 Sligo Avenue, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, on Friday, January 5, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. Private Inurnment at Parklawn Memorial Park at a later date.

Emerson Markham left us on December 15, 2017 at age 90, after a long, productive and loving life as a husband, father, and brother. Born in upstate New York, Emerson served in the U.S. Army after high school, then earned his B.A. from Union College and his M.A. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He moved to the Washington metropolitan area in the 1950s and entered government work. Emerson worked at many different federal agencies in his career, capped by stints as the Budget Director for the United States Post Office, Action (Peace Corps/Vista) and the Veterans Administration. He was a civil servant in the highest meaning of the phrase, and worked his whole life to make government function effectively and humanely. After retiring from the federal government, Emerson worked as a consultant to the National Academy for Public Administration. He traveled widely in this role, and was especially proud of his work to establish a functioning government in the Republic of Georgia. After living for four decades in Southern Prince Georges County, Emerson and Julia moved to the Riderwood retirement community, where he was an active and engaged resident, taking special interest in the scholarship fund for Riderwood employees, until his health failed. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Emerson’s memory may be made to the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, 200 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, or to the charitable organization of your choice, in keeping with his vision for a better world.

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