Teresa Kaminski Emma, 66; longtime real estate agent
Teresa Kaminski Emma, 66, of West Chester, a mother of seven and a real estate agent who had a successful career marketing condominiums, died of cancer Friday at home.
Teresa Kaminski Emma, 66, of West Chester, a mother of seven and a real estate agent who had a successful career marketing condominiums, died of cancer Friday at home.
In the late 1970s, Mrs. Emma began selling residential homes in Delaware County for Murphy Real Estate. She later began specializing in condominium sales. In 1981 she was director of sales at Glenhardie Condominiums in Valley Forge when she was tapped to be director of sales at the Carlton House in Center City. The building had just been converted from apartments to condos. In 1988 she was named director of condominium sales for the Rittenhouse, a converted condominium building and hotel on Rittenhouse Square. She enjoyed the work, her daughter Lisa Ferrie-Kennedy said, because she loved Philadelphia's Center City.
In recent years, Mrs. Emma was a real estate agent for Prudential Fox & Roach and also marketed custom homes that her husband, Al Emma, built on the Main Line.
Mrs. Emma graduated from Mercy Vocational High School in Philadelphia. At 19, she married Charles Ferrie Sr. They raised their children in Lansdowne before divorcing.
In 1990 she married Frank C. Trexler. He died in 1992. She married Al Emma in 1994.
Mrs. Emma had been a volunteer fund-raiser for several charities including Paoli Hospital. She enjoyed summers in Ocean City, N.J. "She was the queen of parties," her daughter said. She often entertained her extended family, her daughter said, and dressed up as a Pilgrim to serve Thanksgiving dinner.
In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Emma is survived by sons Charles "Buddy" Ferrie, Michael Ferrie, Thomas Ferrie and Stephen Ferrie; daughters Teresa Marlino and Christina Ferrie; stepchildren Michele Fuessinger, Christine Emma, Michael Emma, and Joy Barrett; 25 grandchildren; two sisters; and four brothers.
The funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. today at St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church, 689 Sugartown Rd., Malvern. Friends may call from 9 to 10 a.m. Burial will be in the church cemetery.