Maida Houston
DENVER, COLORADO — Maida Marie Emerson Houston departed this life on April 20, 2017, in Denver, Colorado. Born in Polson on Feb. 19, 1931, to Dempsey Frank Emerson and Mary Frances Lauderdale Emerson, she was the the ninth of 11 children.
She met Alfred George Houston in Helena. She always said from the moment they met she liked his soft eyes. Fred told her “stick with me and I’ll show you the world,” — and he did. They were married in Pasadena, California, on Aug. 18, 1951. He enlisted in the Marines, then later the Air Force to follow his life’s dream to fly, becoming a pilot and an officer. Together they raised four children while moving wherever the Air Force sent them: Georgia, Okinawa, South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Germany, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Ohio, and California. Maida became the consummate Air Force officer’s wife. Her husband’s military career was also her career. They were true partners. She called her 48 years of marriage with Fred her “real life.”
A few years after Fred’s unexpected death in 1999, she moved to Sun City in Roseville, California, where she lived for 15 years surrounded by many good friends and her companion, Gene Rohr, also a retired Air Force officer.
Maida is preceded in death by her siblings: Wynn Dempsey Emerson, Robert Emerson, Toby Emerson, Erstelle Emerson, Juanita Emerson Hudson, Cecily Emerson Coster, Myra Emerson Meyers, and Rosalee Adair Emerson Boyen.
Maida is survived by one sister, Beverly Emerson Patelzick of Santa Barbara, California; one brother, Frank Emerson of Grants, New Mexico; and her four children: Neil George Houston, who resides in Denver, Colorado; Kim Marie Houston Gordon, who resides in Port Ludlow, Washington; Gail Frances Houston Serene, who resides in Cayucos, California; Lori June Houston, who resides in Santa Rosa, California; her 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Memorial and burial will be on Aug. 18 in Polson.
