Josephine G Shipton

The world has lost an audacious woman this week.  Josephine (Joey/Jody) G. Shipton passed away peacefully in a Titusville, Florida nursing home on May 15, 2021 at the age of 101. Joey held these three things as her highest priorities:  her family, her faith and her military service. She was born in 1919 to Polish immigrants in Buffalo, New York, the fourth of five children.  Her mother was widowed at a young age and raised her family on a small farm in Blossom, New York.  With frugality and grit, her mother was determined that her children would have an education.  They all completed elementary school and the girls completed high school.  Joey was the only sibling who went to college, receiving her nursing degree from Saint Bonaventure University.  With not a moment’s hesitation, she enlisted in the US Army in 1942.  As a First Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps from 1943 to 1946, she served overseas as a nurse anesthetist.  Her unit followed the Allied invasion from North Africa through Italy and France.  She witnessed loss of limbs and lives of “her boys” that never faded from memory and recounted stories of friendship, adventure and sacrifice. Upon her return to the United States, Joey continued her nursing career and met her husband Tom Shipton in 1948.  The newlyweds lived in Olean, New York for nine years.  In 1957, they moved to Miami, Florida where they made their home.  Joey worked as an RN in several private practices, earning a reputation as the most competent and dependable nurse in the office.  Two of her favorite past times were dancing and golfing.  She excelled at both.  She and Tom enjoyed swing dancing, golf outings and road trips to their cool mountain retreat in North Carolina.  They developed deep friendships over their 36 years of marriage.  During those years, Joey companioned her mother, two sisters and finally Tom as they died. The family savors many happy memories of times with their frugal, strong-willed, fun and adventurous aunt.  She savored a cold swim and a cold beer, loved to bicycle, jogged into her late 80’s and buried all of her compost under her fruit trees and veggies.  In 2000, several generations of family flew to Poland and made a road trip.  With Joey as interpreter, they were overjoyed to find their relatives in a beautiful small town in southeast Poland.  They visited the local cemetery, filled in rich pieces of family history, drank vodka and danced. 

In 2010, Joey moved to a senior living apartment in Titusville. In recent years, her memory faded but two pieces of her life remained clear -- her gratitude for her calling as a nurse and her deep faith in a God that blessed her with a long and healthy life. Joey is preceded in death by her husband Tom, her parents and her siblings Louis, Helen, Edward and Genevieve.  She leaves a loving family of three generations who will ever be touched by her amazing life

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