Emma Young, mother of Sheriff Bill Young, dies at 70

Kirsten Searer

Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

Emma E. Young, mother of Sheriff Bill Young, loved to tell jokes, but she often hit a snag.

"Emma always laughed before she got to the punch line," said Debbie Kourim, the corporate retail manager at the Orleans Hotel and Casino, where Emma Young worked in the gift shop.

The 70-year-old Young was a bright spot for others at her part-time job, where she kept a back storeroom so clean that employees have vowed to name the room after her.

"She was probably the hardest working person I have ever known," Kourim said. "She worked circles around people who were half her age. The woman had some drive. She was a spitfire."

Emma Young was killed Friday in a traffic collision on Interstate 80 west of Elko.

The accident was triggered by a severe dust storm involving six big truck rigs and 12 passenger vehicles, police said. Emma Young, her brother, Pete Menicucci, 69, and two others were pronounced dead on the scene.

Ever the independent, Young had driven herself to Reno, where she picked up Menicucci so they could attend a high school reunion together in their home town of Carlin.

She was later scheduled to meet her family for a beachside vacation in California, friends said.

Lois Makowski, a former manager at the gift shop, has worked with Emma Young in several retail positions for more than 10 years.

She said she was impressed with Emma Young's efforts to help family.

When her elderly mother was in a nursing home, Emma Young visited at least twice a day to feed and sit with her, no matter what was going on in her life, Makowski said.

The daughter of Italian immigrants, Emma Young and her brother remained close, Makowski said.

"What's so ironic is most of the jokes that she got were from her brother," Makowski said.

Emma Young had tried several times to retire from her part-time job at the Orleans, and even had tried to train replacements.

But Ruth Hall, vice president of retail operations at the hotel, said some people in their 30s and 40s were scared off of the job after seeing how hard Emma Young worked.

"I said, 'I can't replace you, I don't know what to do,' " Hall said.

Fellow employees and vendors at the gift shop were crushed to find out the news, said Robbie Streitenberger, a buyer for the shop.

"She did more in three days (a week) than most people would do at seven," he said. "She was amazing."

In addition to being efficient, Emma Young was a devout Catholic, Hall said. She sometimes would joke that she could say Mass quicker than the priests if they would just give her a chance, Hall said.

"She always had a smile," Hall said. "And she still managed to say to me, 'I haven't seen you in church lately.' "

Young's family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Bishop Gorman High School Building Fund, where Young's two sons attended school.

A visitation is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m., followed by a rosary at 7 p.m., at the Palm Mortuary, 1600 S. Jones Blvd.

The funeral Mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Catholic Church, 7260 W. Sahara Ave.

She is survived by her sister, Eole Pacini of Carlin; her sons, Bill and Mike, both of Las Vegas; and five grandchildren.