An Appreciation: Emily King

Submitted by the King family

Emily S. King
Emily King

Emily King, a Billerica resident who lived in Bedford for more than 50 years, passed away peacefully after a brief illness on Friday, March 27, surrounded by her family.

A former Trustee of the Bedford Free Public Library, Mrs. King also served as the first woman elected to the Bedford Planning Board. She also served on the Fair Housing Committee and was a much-admired member of First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church.

As a lifelong Democrat Mrs. King was active in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and ’70s and participated in a march on Washington protesting the Vietnam War. She was involved in small-group ministry, short-story and play-reading groups; loved gardening; and was an avid Red Sox fan.

Get The Bedford Citizen in your inbox!



Mrs. King worked at Middlesex Community College’s Bedford campus, as well as the Museum of our National Heritage and Data Resources International in Lexington.

Born in Milton, MA to Alexander and Emily McDonald, she was a 1946 graduate of Sharon High School and a 1948 graduate of Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School. She married Paul F. King on October 10, 1953 in Sharon, Mass.

Mrs. King is survived by her husband Paul and their children Peter and his wife Diane Brown-King of Bedford; Martha and her husband Jeffery Bryant of Watertown; and Andrew of Templeton, MA. She also leaves a grand-daughter Persephone Brown-Butterfield and her husband Lionel (Chopper) and their children Wesley and Althea of Block Island RI. Mrs. King is also survived by her two sisters Jean McDonald of Foxboro and Phyllis Graham of Bellingham, WA, as well as many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service for Mrs. King will be held at 2 pm on Saturday, April 4, in the sanctuary at First Parish, Unitarian Universalist Church, 75 The Great Road, Bedford.

Correction: This story was corrected on April3, 2015, upon learning that Mrs. King was the first woman elected to the Bedford Planning Board.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Subscribe
Notify of

1 Comment
Newest
Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Rachel Lewis Murphy
April 5, 2015 9:27 am

Emily King was one of the first people to welcome my husband, children and me to Bedford and made certain that we were comfortable in our new community. She was a member of our First of the Month Dinner/Lunch Friends. This group was made up of old friends from the days of The Bedford Council On Human Relations, formerly Fair Housing of the 60s and 70s. She was a dear friend and an active supporter of Civil Rights. Emily was very out spoken concerning injustices and took a firm stand against any and all forms of discrimination. She would let everyone know that she was, most definitely, a Democrat. Her loving wisdom will be sorely missed.

All Stories

What’s Bedford Thinking about the Red Sox?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Junior Landscaping
Go toTop