By MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer
OTTUMWA — If Emmett Agee shopped at furniture stores, he’d be broke.

Agee and his wife, Esther, have a house filled with hand-carved wooden furniture. From the dining room set to the grandfather clock, nearly every wooden item in their home was built by Emmett.


“My father was a carpenter; I learned the trade from my dad, but I always fooled around with cabinetmaking,” he said. “I worked both trades. They’re both connected.”

A simplified explanation of the difference between carpentry and the cabinetmaking Emmett holds so dear is that cabinetmakers create their pieces in a shop; carpenters generally work on the job site.

Not that Agee hasn’t put in his time in construction: He was a foreman on the job decades ago that put the addition on the back of the Ottumwa Courier building.

Now 90 years old and retired, Emmett has slowed down. Slowed down, but not stopped. He just finished a music console to hold his CD player and CDs. Esther said her husband can be found listening to old country music nearly every day.

“He lost his wife; I lost my husband. After six years of being widowed, I found him on the dance floor,” she said.

They’ve been married 26 years.

“We’ve got 10 kids between us and have wonderful relationships with all of them,” Emmett said. “I build a lot of furniture for the kids.”

For example, he cut just the parts for 15 grandfather clock cases. He bought some “works” for the clock, then started assembling the clocks. He gave one to each child.

One of the clocks stands in his dining room today. It shares space with the hand-built dining room table and chairs. Nearby sit other Emmett Agee creations: a magazine rack, a plant stand and on the table, a lazy susan.

The bedrooms, the living room and the kitchen are stocked with hardwood furnishings, too.

“I think the oak is the most beautiful,” said Esther, “but it’s so heavy! Even an [oak] dining room chair is heavy, especially when you’re 90 years old.”

And at that age, Emmett has slowed down on the number of pieces he builds. Which, said Esther, is a good thing.

“We don’t have any place to put them.”