Raised in small farming/ranching cultures, both Bill and Carlene Embree learned early on about the importance of showing up for their neighbors and community. These not quite empty-nesters have led lives filled with a passion for reaching out and serving others, all while raising a combined total of 7 children from previous marriages and adoption. They’ve traveled the world, but are happy to now call Painted Prairie home, where their newest adventure is being parents again, this time to Wisdom, who they adopted in 2019 and is a 6-year-old grandson by blood, who’s keeping them young.
Bill, a retired Lutheran minister, grew up in the beachtown of Encinitas, CA — north of San Diego. Rural at the time, he enjoyed a sheltered life there that expanded tremendously when he headed north to earn a graduate degree from Berkeley in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. The transition opened up a profusion of new social, environmental, and political experiences for Bill, and broadened his appreciation for diversity and how it expands, deepens, and enriches life.
Carlene grew up in Valley, Nebraska just outside of Omaha. Now retired, she spent a career in nursing which ultimately took her to Tanzania, East Africa, to organize healthcare facilities and train local women to be medical resources for their own villages. Reflecting on this important work, Carlene recalls, “It is amazing how the Tanzanian people do so much with so little, and how happy they are in spite of their extreme poverty. Most Tanzanian families live on less than $1 a day. Whew, can you imagine that?”
Travel has always been a mainstay for the couple. Carlene lived in Saudi Arabia for six years and visited much of the world while there. Together they traveled to East Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and much of the United States. Bill’s most memorable US trip was on a motorcycle—a September ride from Long Island, New York to Berkeley, California — his old stomping ground. He experienced the richness of America along the way. Although he no longer rides, the memory of this adventure is forever ingrained in his heart.
With all they’ve done, somehow the Embree’s also found time to raise what Bill refers to as their “United Nations” family. Carlene’s oldest two sons are African American. Next are two daughters who are Chinese American, then Bill’s two boys, one of whom sadly died of cancer. They have thirteen grandchildren and they’ve lost count of the great grandchildren. Get-togethers are international affairs.
A recent move to Colorado from Southern California is what brought the Embrees to Painted Prairie. With more affordable home prices, Bill and Carlene were able customize their KB home to fit their own styles, needs and wishes (a first for them). They’re already finding the community to be a lot like them—caring with a connected spirit. “Wisdom is in a new school that is just 2 years old” says Bill, “and the energy of an all-new, growing, incredibly diverse neighborhood like Painted Prairie, keeps us excited and challenged now that we wear the ‘seniors’ label.”
