Dr. John F. Emmerling was born in 1904 and spent most of his life living in the city of Pittsburgh. He studied at Cornell University for his undergraduate degree while also playing on the schools hockey team before attending The University of Pittsburgh Medical School. After attending medical school he served in the US Army from 1941-1946. He experienced first-hand the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; treating many of the patients injured during the attack. Dr. Emmerling earned the rank lieutenant colonel during his years of service in the Army Medical Corps.
His wife, Nancy Arnold Emmerling, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1936. Like her husband, Nancy was born (1915) and raised in the city of Pittsburgh. She was a figure skater with The Pittsburgh Figure Skating Club. Nancy served as Executive Secretary of the Benedum Foundation in Pittsburgh for many years. Nancy passed away on April 22, 1977.
John and Nancy were instrumental in the donation of the land now known as Emmerling Park in Indiana Township, PA. Together they donated about 10 acres of the Emmerling Family's ancestral land to the township to help create a community park.
Dr. John F. Emmerling's life mission was to find a practical way to treat mental disorders that plague man-kind after watching the mental deterioration of the patients he treated. He was a third generation doctor to serve this city, spending over 50 years treating his patients. He was active as a member of the American Medical Association, Allegheny County Medical Society and the Pittsburgh Academy of Medicine. The John F. Emmerling and Nancy A. Emmerling Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation continue this mission by helping fund research in field of mental disorders, with the goal of discovering the causes and the cure of mental disorders.
Type of Fund
- Medical Research