On April 19, 2007, John C. Emery, Jr., died at age 82 in his home in Connecticut from cancer.

John Emery Jr. joined Emery Air Freight after completing his military service in the US Navy.

He started his career as a pick-up driver, and subsequently moved to sales side of the business, first as a street salesman, then as New York sales manager and followed by positions as district manager, regional manager, vice president of sales and eventually, executive vice president of the company.

By the time John Emery Jr. retired, the company was operating 180 offices with 10,000 employees and had grown from an US$80 million company to a company generating $1.2 billion dollars worth of revenue.