Joseph "Joe" D. Emberson

Joseph “Joe” D. Emberson, 50, of Greencastle, PA passed away Sunday, January 3, 2021 at Johns Hopkins Hospital surrounded by his family.  Joe was born in Chicago, Illinois, to William and Mary Ann (Rooney) Emberson.  When he was two, the family moved to Silver Spring, MD.  This is where, even before elementary school, Joe developed his life-long friendship with Geoff Tundo.  At Albert Einstein High School, Joe played second base on the baseball team and was the quarterback of the varsity football team.  At Virginia Tech, Joe was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and graduated with a BS degree in civil engineering. He and his wife Patricia “Trish” (O’Connell) Emberson met at Virginia Tech and married following graduation.

Joe and Trish moved to the Atlanta suburbs and began growing their family. They welcomed their daughter Courtney and son Bobby while in Georgia.  Soon they moved to Greencastle, PA where Joe and Trish built their home.  Joe enjoyed working on his lawn and creating a welcoming environment where he loved spending time with his extended family and friends. Joe found great joy supporting Courtney in soccer and gymnastics and Bobby, most recently, in basketball.    In addition to being his children’s #1 fan, Joe was an avid sports fan supporting the Virginia Tech Hokies, the Washington Redskins and the Washington Capitals. 

In 1997, Joe was granted a US Patent for his invention of the Modular Block Retaining Wall System. Joe spent his career in various civil engineering and operations management positions, most recently as a project manager with Goldbelt Inc., in the Chambersburg, PA office. Joe was a member of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church of Greencastle.

Joe is survived by his wife of 26 years Patricia “Trish” (O’Connell) Emberson, his daughter Courtney and son Bobby of Greencastle, his parents William and Mary Ann Emberson of Silver Spring MD, his sister Ann Emberson (Kathleen Fitzpatrick) of Beltsville, MD, his mother-in-law Anne O’Connell of Jackson, NJ and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and Godchildren.

On Thursday, January 7th, a private viewing will be held at the Harold M. Zimmerman And Son Funeral Home, Greencastle, PA. A private funeral mass will be held at the St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, 395 S. Ridge Ave. Greencastle, PA. Following the mass, the family invites relatives and friends to participate in the funeral procession from the church to Cedar Hill Cemetery Greencastle for the graveside service.  Please gather in the church parking lot at 2:45 PM for the procession. The family requests that everyone wear masks at all services and gatherings. 

 In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing at UNOS.ORG/Give.   A Celebration of Life Service will be held later this summer. Online condolences may be given at www.zimmermanfh.com.

Joe was a recipient of a donor liver which gave us 7 more months with him. Please consider being an organ donor. For more info visit OrganDonor.gov.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Joseph "Joe" D. Emberson, please visit our floral store.