Emily Groszos Ooms

Emily died at her home in Los Angeles on August 18 surrounded by her family. For some years she had been living with a rare and unrelenting neurodegenerative disease, Multiple System Atrophy, with symptoms that were largely invisible to others until the last two years of her life. She spent her final weeks at home with her friends and family, sharing memories, laughing and crying, singing (a surprise serenade from the Colina Glen community brought her much joy), reading books and old letters aloud with her children and husband, and looking through photos of her adventures.

Emily Jane Groszos was born in Connecticut but spent her childhood in Naperville, Illinois, with her parents, Stephen and Elizabeth, and her younger brother, Mark. She graduated as salutatorian from Naperville Central High School in 1970, where she had been a member of the National Thespian Society (her favorite play was Death Takes a Holiday), and attended the College of William & Mary before transferring to the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she received a bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology in 1974. She went on to pursue a Ph.D. in Japanese history and religion from the University of Chicago but left academia with a master's degree in 1984. Nearly a decade later, in 1993, her master's thesis was published as a book, Women and Millenarian Protest in Meiji Japan: Deguchi Nao and Omotokyo, in the Cornell University East Asia Series. The Japanese Journal of Religious Studies notes, "Originally written as an M.A. thesis for the University of Chicago in 1984, it makes one wonder what Ooms could possibly write for her Ph.D. that could surpass this study for sound scholarship."

In 1974 she married Herman Ooms, a professor of Japanese history. Together they lived in Chicago and then Japan for several years and made many trips to Europe, especially to Belgium to visit Herman's family. They raised their two children, Renata and Jonathan, in Los Angeles, and continued to travel every summer with their children in tow.

Emily had a rare gift for connecting with people of all ages. In her 69 years she amassed an unparalleled collection of close friends, many of whom she had known for decades. With friends she traveled, went camping, played Bananagrams, started a community preschool, coached AYSO soccer, and attended book groups. With the children of friends, or with children who became her friends, she listened and observed, asked thoughtful questions, and shared her own knowledge and experiences in an encouraging, nonjudgmental way. She pushed herself to try new things (that infamous whitewater rafting trip!!) and dazzled the neighbors when she and Herman danced at parties in the community clubhouse. Her sense of humor was infectious. As one friend notes, Emily "couldn't tell a joke to save her life," but you could sit around laughing hysterically with her over the small absurdities of everyday life. And she was a planner--of international trips, lunch dates, dinner menus, repairs to be made to the house, even her friends' calendars.

Emily found friends and new interests everywhere. In Chicago, in her 20s, she worked as an academic advisor to undergraduates at the University of Chicago. In Los Angeles, she worked at the UCLA Center for the Study of Women and at the Ocean Park Community Center, deepening her commitment to feminism and social justice. Above all, she loved learning, and she loved helping children learn. In 1993, with two young kids of her own, Emily went back to school. With a teaching credential from Cal State Northridge in hand, she taught fourth grade at the Willows Community School for 12 years and developed a creative, hands-on curriculum that is still used today. In 2007 she left the classroom to work as an educational and behavioral specialist for children with developmental differences. She loved her students, understood their gifts and struggles in an unusually intuitive way, and forged relationships with many of them that far outlasted her time as their instructor.

Emily is survived by her husband of 47 years, Herman; her two children, Renata and Jonathan; their spouses, Ned and Laura; her nine-month-old granddaughter, Emily Fay ("Emi"); and, last but not least, her wonderful friends.

One final note, this one in Emily's voice. A telegram she sent to her father from Europe when she was 16, "Swallowed left contact send another. Emily."

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In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Defeat MSA Alliance:
https://defeatmsa.org/donate-to-us/