Emil Najemnik of Rockledge, FL 96 passed away May 31, 2017. Born in 1920, in Chicago Illinois, he was the son of Eastern European immigrants, Joseph and Anna Najemnik. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Elizabeth (Betty) and by his eldest son, Robert Emil Najemnik. He is survived by his sister Mildred Zeman, his son Donald Najemnik and wife Jennifer Najemnik, grandson Matthew Najemnik, granddaughter Lindsey Zabriskie and husband Neil Zabriskie and great-granddaughter Capri Zabriskie.

Emil spent his youth on a farm in southeastern Ohio after the family decided big city life wasn't for them. Emil developed a passion for gardening that stayed with him for most of his life. He also learned that he could fix just about anything. Working a farm during the great depression was difficult but he learned the value of money.

Emil enlisted in the US Navy during WWII. He served as an engine room mechanic on several of the support ships that cruised the Pacific theater of the war. Having survived the war unscathed, he was honorably discharged at the end of hostilities. He returned to the farm in Ohio. Emil's father passed away during the war and the decision was made to sell the farm and return to Chicago.

Emil met Betty Abel at a Czech social event in Chicago in 1947. They were married on February 8, 1948. They settled down in the Chicago suburb of North Riverside and raised two boys, Robert and Donald. They were active members of Saints Peter and Paul Lutheran Church in Riverside, Illinois until they moved to Florida in 1996. They lived for a time in Suntree and then settled into a home in the Ashwood Lakes neighborhood in Rockledge. Shortly after the move, they chose Faith "Viera" Lutheran Church as their new spiritual home.