Emma and Orman have been married for over 65 happy yars.  They have raised three beaautiful children who now join them in the Senior Citizen category.Their oldest daughter Valerie lives in Mineral springs, West Virginia, the second daughter Marlene lives in Corvallis, Oregon  and is a writer who has had two books  and dozens of articles published. Our son Ray is the owner/manager of a plumbing business on Vashon Island, Washington.  They gave us 6 grandkids and 4 great grandkids.   Emma was born in a sod house her father built on his homestead in western South Dakota.  She spent her childhood on the prairie, attending a one-room country school. The teachers in those days taught all eight grades and sometimes had as many as 24 students in one small room. They had a well equipped library with many books to read, and that’s where Emma got her start.  She remembers reading books like Little Women and Tom Sawyer’s Huckleberry Finn. Teachers insisted on good grammar when their students wrote stories for English class.   Emma first realized she needed to write her memoirs after suffering a heart attack in 1981. She wanted to tell her children and grandchildren what life was like in the early 1920s, before radio, telephones, electricity, television, flying to the moon, and all the things we know about today.   She started with the Palmer Method of handwriting, then in high school learned the typewriter, and only in 1997 at age 77 did she get a computer to continue her writing.  

At the age of 71, I had my first needlecraft project published. This started ten years of designing and eventually getting over 170 designs published in about 30 magazines, pamphlets and books.

When my vision loss made me stop crocheting I turned to writing.In 2003 my book titled Prairie Rattlers, Long Johns and Chokecherry Wine, Memoirs of the Silent Priarie, was published by PublishAmerica. It is my memoir of growing up on the prairie in the early 1900s. I was the eleventh of twelve children. Papa and Mama worked hard during the Depression to put food in our mouths and clothes on our backs. Get your autographed copy direct from the author, $15,00 includes postage and handling. Emma L. Willey, 1800 NW Hughwood, #315, Roseburg, OR 97471

My second book titled Beyond the Silent Prairie, A Love Story was released in 2006 and both books are available at amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and in many book stores across the country.

My third book is title Inspirations and Reflections, 89 Years of Life and Love. It is mostly poetry, some inspiational, some funny, some sad, and they all reflect my life, but mostly my years as a mother and grandmother. Since I lost my dear husband Orman in May of 2009, this book has been my therapy.