Obituary of Josephine L Howe

Josephine Legionette (Lee) was born at Lakeview Hospital, Danville, Illinois on December 21, 1928, the daughter of Fred Mossback Graves and Clara Mildred Beach.  Her father was a WW I veteran and had died seven months earlier, May 26, 1928, from complications of war related illnesses.  Lee was named for her fraternal grandmother, Josephine Ogden and for the American Legion, who looked after the family following her father's death. She was the youngest of four children. 

The American Legion built the family a house in Tilton, near Danville, in which to live, and attempted to get some sort of veteran's assistance for the family.  Lee remembers very little of her early days in the Danville area.  The family moved from the house in Tilton soon after her mothers' marriage to Elmer Hollycross in April 1934.  She remembers Diamond Grade School where she would play in the sand box, and, perhaps attended school for a short time. She remembered trips to her grandmothers' house and the covered bridge they went over on the way. Elmer  worked construction projects and acquired a trailer house for the family to live in.  They moved frequently from one construction job to another throughout Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Texas.  Most of her early memories are of the years in Des Moines... the Iowa State Fair, the state capital building, and the various neighborhoods where she lived. 

In 1956, while visiting her brother in Riverside, California, Lee met someone who would change her life forever.  Oliver Warren Howe was going to college in Riverside and the romance was fast and final.  They were married the Saturday after Thanksgiving, during school break, 1956.  Their first child, Michael Lee was born in Riverside on October 14, 1957.  The following summer they moved to the Seattle, Washington area where Oliver went to work for The Boeing Airplane Company.  Here, Lee became the mother of two more children, Dawn Marcelle on November 10, 1959 and Saundra Rene on June 10, 1961.  She spent several busy years preparing food, changing diapers and being a most loving mother and wife. The family moved to Bonney Lake, WA and this is where the children were raised.  She lived in Bonney Lake for 29 years, less 18 months when Oliver worked in Cheyenne, Wyoming for Boeing.  Lee became active with school parent groups, Brownies and Cub Scouts as the kids grew in these activities.  On February 1, 1990 Oliver retired from Boeing and they moved to Long Beach, Washington, three blocks from the Pacific Ocean and just four miles from the Columbia River.  Here they planned to spend their retirement years walking the beach, visiting the kids and grand-kids, some travel, but much time in pursuit of their Hobbies.  Lee was kept busy making quilts; one for each of the kids and grand-children plus many additional ones for other members of the family and friends. 

Both her and Oliver started to have health issues so they moved to Puyallup, Washington in 2013 to be closer to their children and doctors. Surviving are there son, Michael Lee Howe of Black diamond,WA; Daughters Dawn Marcelle of Everett, WA  and Saundra Rene of Sequim, WA; five grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Also surviving are several nieces and nephews.  Lee died January 12, 2021 at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington.  Her family was at her bedside when she departed.  Burial will take place at the convenience of the family in the Vaughn Cemetery, Vaughn, Washington.  No services are planned.