William Emily:  

Hi everyone, When I was in the 7th grade, a friend and I were looking at all the students coming and going in the courtyard of our school. I simply stated to J. T. "in about a hundred years from now we will all be gone, I wonder what it is all about?". I think that was the first time that I started to question the meaning of our mortality. I still do not have the answers, but I now have the experience of the passing of time. It is 30 years since graduating from Puyallup High School, Class of 1978. It has been a remarkable experience this life. Like all of our graduating students, I have experienced the thrill of success and the tribulation of failure, the joy of births and the heartache of deaths, and the constant passing of time that goes by every day. Time is often called an enemy that eventually catches up with you, or a friend that can never be trusted. I now consider time a companion that is at my side. Without time, there would be no past. Without a past, there would be no history. Without a history, there would be no family such as my maternal grandparents Richard Henry Lee and Anna Constable of the 11 generation who in the year 1639 left Nordley Regis, Coton Schraps, England and landed on the eastern shores of Virginia. Nor would there be my 25 generation maternal grandparents Hugh De Lusingan or Isabella De Angouleme of Angouleme, France in the years 1188 through 1246, or even my 38th generation maternal grandparents Ralmer De Helnault IV & Adwige De France of 950 to 1049, France. Time is a friend and companion that gives us a past. The past leads to the present and provides us with purpose. Purpose is what we give our children as they enter the future that is the next heart beat away. Over the years I have learned life gives you opportunities when you least expect them. I am sure many are wondering about the name Emily. In 1989 I met my biological father in Alabama. I never knew my father and this became an experience that I will never forget. The important part was meeting my grandfather, the man who I was named after. Spending time with them and other family in Indiana, I came home and decided that my children would have what was their birth right - Family History. At 30 years old I legally changed my name back to William H. Emily II. I joined the Navy in our Senior year and went active duty after graduating. I was thinking I would serve three years, get out and return to Puyallup. Instead I continued my service and made the navy into a career. From the first day I boarded the USS Thomaston home ported in San Diego, I found my home. My career soon put me over seas and then in Bremerton where I served as a Marine Main Propulsion Mechanical Engineer on a variety of vessels. The commissioned ships I served were the USS Thomaston LSD 28, USS Implicit MSO 455 and USS Conquest MSO 488. Other vessels were the YTB Ottumwa, YTB Mishawauka, Torpedo Retriever Boat TRB 28, and the Industrial Yard at Puget Sound Naval Shipyards, Bremerton. I made several trips around the world and visited many countries. Spent a lot of time on the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf and experienced the power of three typhoons and several depressions. I visited Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe and other places around the world. Times changed and I retired from the Navy on June 30, 1996. Somewhere between sea time and shore duty I went back to school and received my AA at Olympic Community College, Bremerton. My second career is Law Enforcement. While in the navy, I became a Reserve Deputy Sheriff with Kitsap County Sheriff's Department and then Pierce County Sheriff's Department. I spent eight years working as a master reserve deputy in Lakewood and South Tacoma. After retiring from the Navy, it was a very easy transition to become a Commissioned Police Officer. I relocated to Northport, attended the Police Academy in Burien, and worked as the Town Marshal for 2 ½ years. In January 1999 I transferred to Colville Police Department and have worked at CPD since. I love being a police officer. It is amazing just what crazy and stupid things people will do when they have no options and their backs against the wall. I could write for hours about the many things we have to deal with. The sad part is the physical and emotional trauma that drugs, alcohol and violence inflects on the individual and others around them. People have no appreciation of the intended or unintended consequences of their actions or inactions. The good news is that Colville has a very low crime rate when compaired to other cities and communities it size. I like to think that I have a part in that. Being a police officer also has its emotional toll. Each one of us must find out own way to deal with the emotional problems while dealing with crime on the streets. I find mine through Blue Cammas and Lake Roosevelt Charters. To this day I don't drink or smoke and when I get off work I will shut off my radio and leave the problems back in the city. I try not to bring other persons problems home. Colville is a very beautiful small city of 5,000. ...Expand for more