T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Former Yorkville councilman Ronald Emerson reminisces the past 60 years he served on council while saying he believes he still has more years to go.

YORKVILLE — Ronald Emerson is reminiscing on the past 60 years he served the village of Yorkville as a councilman.

Emerson stepped down from his seat this past April due to health reasons, but he believes he may still have more left in the tank.

He was replaced by Linda Mayhugh, who will serve out the remaining two years left of his term.

He expressed interest in running for council again, but said it depends on his health when the time to run for the position occurs.

“I should have stayed in, but I didn’t. I’ve had some medical problems throughout the years and thought maybe it’s time to quit now, but I’d still like to go back,” Emerson said. “People can talk all they want to. ‘Oh he’s an old guy, What’s he doing on council?’ But I can handle it,”

He began serving on council in 1963 after filling an unexpired term. He has participated in 17 elections and said that he is proud of his contributions.

Emerson said that there’s not one specific project that he’s most proud of but he’s incredibly proud of the council’s ability to ensure that the roads were paved, the water tank got the maintenance it needed, and the overall continued improvements of the village.

“I always ran because I wanted to help the people in town. And I felt that way all through my years in council,” Emerson said. “If I were to get back on, I would still feel that way. The residents come first.”

In addition to serving six decades on council, Emerson also worked as a human resources supervisor at Cardinal Power Plant until he retired in 1992.

In 2021, Emerson was honored for his longtime dedication to Yorkville in the Marquis Who’s Who of America book. The book is a biographical dictionary that sheds light on notable men and women across the country. Emerson was nominated to be included in the 2021 edition by former U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio — a Republican who now serves as Youngstown State University — for his continued commitment to the Yorkville community.

Emerson has run 17 successful elections through his time serving as a council member. Emerson said that he’s had someone run against him in virtually all 17 elections.

He attributes his successful campaigns to his dedication to providing the best for the residents of Yorkville.

Through the connection he made with Johnson, Emerson was able to get the medals his brother George Emerson received from being killed while serving in the United States Army in World War II.

George Emerson was only 19 when he died and received two Purple Heart medals, a Bronze Star, European African Middle Eastern Campaign medal, Army of Occupation medal, World War II Victory medal and American Campaign medal.

Emerson’s family never received any of the medals until Johnson helped. Ronald Emerson said that Johnson was able to get him in contact with military historians who were able to provide him with the records he needed to collect his brother’s medals from the Army.

“It was pretty tough at the beginning. We mourned him for quite a while, but eventually it kind of died out,” Ronald Emerson said. “But then I got back into it when I was trying to get these medals. So it kind of brought back a lot of memories to me.”

George Emerson was Ronald Emerson’s hero growing up and he still can’t believe that nearly 80 years after he was killed in 1944, he is finally able to have his brother’s medals.

In addition to working hard, Ronald Emerson has spent a lot of time being an active member of the community, whether he was volunteering, attending St. Lucy’s Church, or playing golf.

Golf is Emerson’s biggest passion in life. He’s won several golf tournaments and recalled a time where he won two golf tournaments in one day.

He said that he won a tournament at Fairway River Links Golf Course and as soon as he won got in the car and drove to Bec-Wood Hills Golf Course and ended up winning a tournament there as well.

“I played golf until about 10 years ago. I had to quit because of my balance and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “That was the hardest thing I ever had to do was give up golfing. I always thought, boy, if I could just get well again, and just hit a ball one more time I’d be happy. Well, that’s not going to happen.”

He added that he’s played golf since he was 5 years old when he got a rusty five iron with a wooden shaft from a family member.

He said that practiced constantly and was getting pretty good until somebody stole the club.

Emerson turns 95 on Sunday and said that he has no plans of slowing down and wants to thank the residents of Yorkville for allowing him to serve 60 years as a councilman.

As a thank you to his dedication, Emerson recently had a road named after him called Emerson Drive that is located where Market Street and Deep Run Road intersect.