Mrs. Emily L. Stoffa, 66

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Mrs. Emily L. Vinson Stoffa, 66, of Chicago, formerly of Autryville, NC, passed away Thursday, July 26, 2007 at Oak Park Hospital. Funeral services will be held Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 11 AM at Autryville Baptist Church with the Rev. Ronald Long officiating. Burial will follow in the Autryville Cemetery. Emily was a native of Sampson County and was preceded in death by her husband George Stoffa and her mother Marie Parsons Vinson. Emily started playing piano when she was three years old and started formal lessons when she was four with Mrs. B.T. Williams of Stedman, N.C. Emily attended grammar and high school at Stedman where she continued with her piano. She attended and earned a Bachelors degree from East Carolina University in piano performance where her major piano instructor was Dr. Robert Carter. One highlight of her college career was being selected in open competition to perform with the N.C Symphony, where she played the Bartok Third Piano Concerto (completed after living in N.C.) Emily went on to earn her masters degree in piano performance at East Carolina. Emily furthered her studies with notable teachers and pianists Byron Janis in Nice, France, Rudolph Ganz, in Chicago, Elizabeth Travis, in Decatur, IL. and Adele Marcus in New York. During the 60's Emily competed in the first International Bach Competition which was held in Washington, D.C. While she studied in Chicago she loved the Lake Michigan lakefront and felt she would live there someday. After college Emily taught piano in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. She traveled to California on vacation where she met future husband George Stoffa. They married in 1969 and moved to Chicago. They later lived in Jim Thorp, PA, before returning permanently to Chicago in the late 70's, living very near Lake Michigan. Emily worked at two private clubs in Chicago, The Covenant and Standard. She played piano and sang several nights a week, and also performed at private parties, holidays and special events. Emily resumed teaching piano and furthered her musical studies with Mary Sauer, the principal keyboardist with the world renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Dr. Allen Anderson of Northeastern IL Univ. Mrs. Stoffa is survived by: father, Irwin L. Vinson, of Autryville; brother, I.L. "Chip" Vinson, III., of Wilmington; aunt, Margaret Jaynes, of Autryville; two nieces, Kelly Vinson and Kristen Vinson, both of Wilmington; nephew, Chad Vinson, of Morrisville; dear friend, Larry Bernstein, of Chicago; two aunts, Betty P. Lamb, of Cleveland, NC and Mary Alta Weeks, of Dunn; uncle, H. Lindbergh Parsons, of Longwood, FL and numerous Parsons cousins. The family will receive friends Wednesday night from 6 till 8 PM at Butler Funeral Home in Roseboro.