Emmala Louise Young

SPARTANBURG, SC-- Emmala Louise Young, a resident of Summit Hills Retirement Community in Spartanburg, South Carolina, died Wednesday, January 3, 2017. She was 95. A native of Spartanburg she was the daughter of Thomas Cleburne and Ada Justice Young and was preceded in death by her siblings Thomas Rudolph Young, Sr; Mary Lucille Young; Samuel Cleburne Young; Marion Justice Young Sr., Lillian Young Smith; Marjorie Dubose Young and her nephews Thomas Rudolph Young, Jr and Marion Justice Young, Jr. Miss Young was a graduate of Spartanburg High School and Converse College. She was employed at WSPA Radio, Wofford College and worked for the Circuit Solicitor for Spartanburg and Cherokee Counties. She earned her Masters Degree in English at Furman University and taught for twenty years at Houston Elementary School. She was a member of the Junior League of Spartanburg. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg and later Fernwood Baptist Church. She is survived by her nephews and nieces: Ralph (Rafe) Henry Smith, Jr and his wife Phyllis Huff Smith of Knoxville, TN and their children and grandchildren; Mrs. Marion Justice Young, Jr (Kitty) of Greenville, S.C. and her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren; Thomas Rudolph Young III and his wife Elizabeth Chapman Young, of Spartanburg and their children and grandchildren; Kenneth Edwards Young and his wife Cynthia Higgins Young, of Charlotte, N.C. and their children and grandchildren; Edward Hotchkiss Young, M.D., and his wife Clark Newton Young, of Macon, GA and their children; Mary Jane Young McWilliams and her husband William Locke McWilliams, of Louisville, KY and their daughter; and Berkeley Wilson Young of Charlotte, N.C. The family is particularly appreciative to the fine staff in the Memory Care Unit at Summit Hills, who provided Emmala wonderful friendship in addition to excellent care for several years. The family also appreciates the compassionate care Emmala received over the years from Nancy Reynolds and later from the fine staff at Brookdale Hospice. A private graveside service will be held for the family Saturday, January 14, 2017 at Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia, S.C. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Converse College, 580 E. Main Street, Spartanburg, SC 29302 and may be designated to the Mary Jane Edwards Young '47 Endowed Scholarship.