Emerson Tolle

Emerson Tolle, 97, of Wenatchee, passed away on Thursday, December 11, 2014. He was born on August 6, 1917 near Maysville, Kentucky (oldest of seventeen children) to Gus Linn and Iva (Carpenter) Tolle. His father was a farmer and his main crops were tobacco, corn and hogs. Emerson worked with JC Penney as a shoe salesman in Maysville, Kentucky. He enlisted in the Army in August 1941 just before being drafted. He completed basic infantry training at Camp Roberts in California just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He passed the tests at March Field, California for Army Air Force pilot training in January 1942 and graduated from flight school in August 1942 as a Pilot and Second Lieutenant. He completed pilot training for the B-17 Bomber in Spokane, and then transferred to Walla Walla to help train B-17 combat crews. While in Walla Walla he fell in love with June Reever. They were married on June 27, 1943. June passed away on May 12, 2013 after almost seventy years of a great marriage. In August of 1943 he was transferred to the new 463rd Heavy Bomb Group as Assistant Group Operations Officer to help organize and train the group for overseas assignment. In early 1944 the 463rd “Bomb Group was sent to the Fifteenth Air Force in Northern Italy. Prior to departure from the U.S. he was promoted to Captain and as Squadron Commander of the 774th Squadron. In May of 1944 he was promoted to Major. In January of 1942 he was a private in the infantry, two and a half years later in June 1944 he was promoted to Major in the Army Air Corp. After completing his combat tour of fifty one missions over Europe he returned to the U.S., learned to fly the B-29 Bomber and became the Director of Flight Training for B-29 combat crews at Kirkland Field in Albuquerque, New Mexico. During his combat tour he was awarded the: Silver Star; Distinguished Flying Cross; Air Medal (4); Croix De Guerre with Palm; American Defense Medal; Southern France Star; Theatre Ribbon with Italian Star; Oversea Service. In 1946 he returned to JC Penney as a Salesperson Special in Mckeesport, Pennsylvania. In 1950 promoted to Assistant Manager of a new store in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1951 promoted to Manager of the JC Penney Store in the home office building in New York City. In 1952 transferred to the Corporate Headquarters Planning and Research Department with the assignment to develop Standardized and modernized merchandise inventory control and reordering systems for the company. In 1962 he was promoted to a new position Merchandise Financial Planning and Inventory Control Manager for the company, retiring from JC Penney in 1977. 1977/1985 Emerson did some consulting work for some retailers in South Africa, Brazil, Italy, England and U.S.A. 1990/1992 President Three Lakes Golf Club Board of Directors 1993/1994 Secretary/Treasurer YMCA 1993 YMCA Volunteer of the Year Honorary Kentucky Colonel Survivors include his children, Janice Moran of Cumming, Georgia, Russell Tolle of Ashburn, Virginia and Thomas Tolle of Provo, Utah; his 10 grandchildren and his nine great grandchildren; his six brothers, Ned Tolle, Jerry Tolle, Don Tolle, Frank Tolle, Bill Tolle and Ronnie Tolle; his two sisters, Allene Parker and Virginia Rottinghaus. Funeral Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, December 19, 2014 at Jones & Jones ~ Betts Memorial Chapel with Military Honors. Private Burial will be held at Wenatchee City Cemetery. Please express your thoughts and memories on the online guest book at jonesjonesbetts.com. Arrangements are by Jones & Jones-Betts Funeral Home.

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Emerson Tolle

August 6, 1917 - December 11, 2014