Emerson Wayne (E.W.) Ireland was born March 19, 1944, in Chillicothe, Missouri, to Emerson Wade Ireland and Helen Zachary. He spent his early childhood in Mound City, Missouri, before moving to Fairfax, Missouri. As a youngster he became fascinated with automobiles, spending countless hours learning makes and models of all the cars that went up and down the streets of Mound City and Fairfax.
In 7th grade he met the love of his life, Donna Lea Graves. In high school he excelled at football and basketball. During the summer months he would travel on the road with his father. This is where he learned to drive trucks and operate heavy machinery, which he loved to do throughout his life.
In June of 1963 he married Donna and they had two sons, James Wayne in 1964, John Calvin in 1972, and a daughter, Marlo Kristen in 1974.
He graduated from Northwest Missouri State University in 1967 with a BS in Education. They later moved to Kansas City where he attended UMKC School of Pharmacy, graduating in 1971. He worked for two years as a pharmacist before going back to school yet again. He graduated from Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine with a degree in Doctor of Osteopathy in 1977. After completing a one-year internship he moved his family to Richmond, Missouri, in 1978. He operated Ireland Clinic for nearly 20 years in Richmond. He spent his days visiting with and taking care of his patients, along with delivering babies in his Birthing Center, which was the only one of its kind in the state of Missouri. In his spare time he operated two other businesses, Lakeview Farms and later EE Rock and Lime.
After selling his medical practice in the late 1990s he relocated to Lake Ozark with Donna. In 1999 he took up flying, which he remained very passionate about for the remainder of his life. He worked as an Emergency Room physician from 1999 to 2005. He operated Doctor’s Urgent Care at West Plains, Missouri, from 2005 to 2010 as well. In 2008 he and Donna moved back to their hometown of Fairfax. He served the community as a primary care and ER physician for nearly five years.
Unfortunately he lost Donna to complications of lymphoma after 52 years of marriage in June of 2015. Dr. Ireland lost his battle with cancer and organ failure and passed away on January 7, 2018.
Dr. Ireland is survived by son James Wayne and daughter-in-law Tammy Ireland of Liberty, Missouri; son John Calvin and daughter-in-law Monisha Ireland of Overland Park, Kansas; his daughter Marlo Ireland of Holt, Missouri; grandchildren, Zachary Ireland of Liberty, and Shane, Connor and Alison Ireland of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; brother Harvey and sister-in-law Donna Ireland of Fairfax; sister Shelley Buttercase of Rock Port; sister-in-law Kay Rosenbohm of Fairfax; and nephew John-Christopher Thomas of San Francisco, California.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, January 20, 2018, at the Fairfax Christian Church, Fairfax. Everyone is invited to a 12:30 p.m. luncheon reception following the services at the Tarkio Community Building, Tarkio, Missouri.
Memorial tributes to Dr. Ireland are encouraged to be directed to the Milton Cemetery, c/o Kay Rosenbohm, 21992 State Highway Z, Fairfax, Missouri 64446.