Obituaries : Emma Rose Kennison; Ex-Personnel Manager
Emma Rose Kennison, a Ventura County resident for seven years, has died after a long illness. She was 81.
Kennison worked as a personnel manager for a J. C. Penney Co. store in Santa Monica before retiring in 1972. Before that, she owned Em’s Chili House on Santa Monica Boulevard. She met her future husband of 49 years, Donald, when he came in to have lunch one day.
Kennison’s daughter Carolyn Kuhn of Ojai said her mother’s love of serving people carried over from the restaurant to family life.
“She loved to wait on people,” Kuhn said. “My mother was never selfish or self-centered. She loved to take care of her family.”
Kennison also enjoyed travel and took trips to Catalina and along the California coast in her 26-foot boat, “The Lazy Em.”
She is survived by her husband; her daughters, Kuhn, Florence Bennett of Capistrano Beach, and Janice Arndt of Cave Creek, Ariz.; seven grandchildren, including Kelly Lewis and Dana Ambarian of Ojai; 10 great-grandchildren, including Megan Lewis and Steven Ambarian of Ojai; and two great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.
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