The Nome Nugget

Typical' American Family Realizes Universal Dream

SEATTLE, (P) - At first glance, Cecil Emery Jr. appears to be a typical average American.

He is 39, married the sweetheart he met at the YMCA here as a GI from Chicago in World War II; has four fine children . . . earns $100 a week as a telephone equipment maintenance man, has the usual worries of trying to make his paycheck stretch.

But let's look again. He is not an ordinary guy.

With the approval of his lovely wife, Patricia, 36, he sold his house and all their belongings to finance a four-month trip around the world for his doting family.

It cost them $5,500. Only a tiny nestegg is left.

Yesterday they finished this dream other tens of thousands only talk about.

"We wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world," said Emery and his wife, "and that's just about what we don't have any of."

There were nods of agreement from James, 16, John, 13, Linda, 10, and Tommy, 4.

Emery said that with a family his size and a modest income it was impossible to save for a world tour. The only thing they had was the equity in the home he built with his own hands over seven years.

A 30-day voyage by freighter, starting July 14, took them to Honolulu, the Fiji Islands, then Australia.

They remained five weeks in Australia to Ceylon, India, Arabia, the Suez Canal, through the Mediterranean to southern France, Gibraltar, and London.

The Emerys have moved in temporarily with his in-laws, but plan to start building another house on a lot they own.