Emerson C. King Sr. had a hard time finding a desirable job as an educator in the 1950s. Interviewers praised his resume, but then said he lacked certain college courses. He overcame the racial double standard by taking more classes until he wound up with a master’s degree of education from Emporia State University in Kansas, plus 30 hours.
In 1964, King finally found the kind of job he wanted, as a teacher Soldan High School. He was an assistant principal at O’Fallon Tech and Metro high schools before retiring from the school system. An outgoing man, he liked to share the new slang of his students, tell amusing stories about them and demonstrate their latest dance steps.
After school, he worked part-time at Mercantile Bank downtown, training clerical personnel. His teaching specialty was “distributive education” in office skills like typing, shorthand and using business equipment.
Most nights, he returned to his home North County home and cooked the family’s dinner with ingredients his wife Betty had prepped. He made delicious dinner rolls from scratch and tasty fried chicken. He bragged about figuring out most of the “secret” ingredients in the batter of the original Kentucky Fried Chicken.
King served in World War II. At first, he was being trained as a commando but was reassigned to be a cook. The segregated Army had changed its mind about arming black soldiers with heavy weapons. He turned that discrimination to his personal advantage by becoming an avid home cook. He also liked to bowl.
In retirement, he worked part-time at the Missouri School for the Blind. He co-owned his family’s landscaping company in Hutchinson, KS, where he was born on Feb. 12, 1923 to Oscar and Cleopatra (Morgan) King.
Emerson Sr. died Friday, October, 18 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond Heights. He was 90. A funeral service was held, with burial at Jefferson Barracks.
He was preceded in death by wife Betty Jean (Cooper) and sisters Bessie Coleman Bell, Opal Hughes and Maxine Carpenter.
He is survived by brother Kenneth of Hutchinson, sisters Lilla King of Hutchinson and Wilda King of South Hutchinson, KS, son Emerson Jr. and daughter-in-law Donna (Wells) of St. Louis, daughters Emily King of Chevy Chase, MD and Alberta King of St. Louis, grandson Lamar King of St. Louis, granddaughter Jasmine King of Hazelwood, great-grandsons Gage, Noah and Rahmiel King, and great-granddaughters Imani and Kaley King.
