SECOND GENERATION

2. Kenneth Earl Emry ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ was born on 2 Feb 1914 in Norden, Keyapaha Co., Nebraska. He died on 5 May 1986 in Ainsworth, Brown Co., Nebraska.⁽³⁾ OBITUARY: FUNERAL FRIDAY FOR KEN EMRY, DAM OPPONENT (Omaha World-Herald, Thursday, May 8, 1986). Ainsworth, Neb. - Funeral services will be Friday for Ainsworth Rancher Ken Emry, a leader in the campaign against damming the Niobrara River.
Emry, 72, was found dead Monday evening on his ranch along the Niobrara after he went to check on his horses and failed to return home.
Alice Emry said her husband died of a heart attack. He had suffered a heart attack in 1972, she said.
The Emry ranch several times was the scene of the annual River Day, a picnic sponsored by the Save the Niobrara River Association. Last summer, the Emrys were hosts to 200 people celebrating the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's decision to abandon plans to dam the Niobrara near Norden, Neb.
Emry, a native of Norden, brought Norden Dam opponents an expertise on bureau projects because he once worked for the bureau on the Merritt Reservoir project southwest of Valentine, Neb., friends said.
Other survivors include two daughters, Ruthe Micheel of Ainsworth, and Leona Janacek of North Platte; two sons, Robert of Arlington, Va., and Raleigh of Austin, Texas; 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was buried on 9 May 1986 in Ainsworth, Brown Co., Nebraska. Ainsworth Cemetery located a mile or so South of Ainsworth on an extension of Pine Street. OBITUARY: Kenneth Earl Emry of Ainsworth, Nebraska died on May 5, 1986 at his ranch in northern Brown County. He was born the oldest son of Jesse M. Emry and Florence (Evans) Emry on February 2, 1914, near Norden, Nebraska. He attended rural elementary schools in Cherry and Keyapaha Counties in Nebraska and in Todd County in South Dakota. In 1938 he married Ortha Reynolds, who bore his four children. He married Alice Randall on October 31, 1962.
Kenneth was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, Freda Hood, one infant brother and one grandson. Surviving are his wife Alice, his four children, Leona Janacek of North Platte, Nebraska, Robert Emry of Arlington, Virginia, Ruth Micheel of Ainsworth, Nebraska, and Raleigh Emry of Austin Texas, one sister Phyllis Campbell of Ainsworth, and one brother, Russell Emry of Vale, Oregon, 11 grandchildren, two great grandchildren, Erin Jeffres, many nieces and nephews, and a host of friends.
Kenneth was born in a farmhouse on the edge of the Niobrara River Canyons south of Norden, and died on his land bordering the Niobrara northeast of Ainsworth. He lived virtually all of the 72 years, three months, and three days of his life within twenty miles of the Niobrara River, which he loved and protected. He had an intense curiosity of all aspects of natural history, particularly of the Niobrara region, and was familiar with all of the native plants and animals. He understood our ultimate dependence on the natural environment and was concerned that what is often labeled progress is only temporary because it comes at the expense of irreversible exploitation of nature. His idea of progress was simply to be a good steward and to leave the world as good a place for coming generations as it was for him.

Flags: Foreign Born=N, Military=N He was married to Ortha Loretta Reynolds on 8 Oct 1938 in Winner, Tripp Co., South Dakota. He was divorced from Ortha Loretta Reynolds about Jul 1961.

3. Ortha Loretta Reynolds (Private). Children were:

i. Leona Joan Emry (Private).
ii. Dr. Robert John Emry PhD (Private).
iii. Ruth Marie Emry (Private).
1 iv. Raleigh Evan Emry Major USAF (Ret).

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