Josephine Lorraine Walter, 71, Ozark, passed from this life into the next, Saturday, March 27, 2004, at 7:07 p.m. in St. John's Hospital, Springfield, after a lengthy and courageous battle with lymphoma.

Jo, as she liked to be called, was born in Osawatomie, Kansas, to Harold and Margaret Nash on January 24, 1933, in the front bedroom of their house. She was the younger sister of Ruth Nash Morrison and the older sister to Vance Nash.

She graduated from Osawatomie High School in 1950. Jo was married to Wayne E. Walter, also of Osawatomie, in 1950. Together they had three children. Wayne worked for Skelly Oil Company after a four year service to our country with the United States Air Force. They moved several times around the country over the years with his job. They moved to Ozark, Missouri, in 1975, where he preceded her in death in 1982. She was also preceded in death by her parents and firstborn grandchild, Jaime Leigh Walter.

She worked for over 22 years as an executive secretary, working for several Deans of the College of Business Administration at Southwest Missouri State University. After retiring in 1998, she was honored with a certificate of Emeritus.

Jo had an unending passion for gardening, cooking, fishing and crocheting. She always thought of others before herself and countless family members and friends were the blessed recipients of her willingness to share her gardening, cooking and crocheting.

She is survived by her son, David Walter and wife, Cathy, of Rockaway, N.J.; daughters, Linda Barber and husband, Terry, of Nixa, Mo., and Nancy Spandle and husband, Steve, of Pleasant Hill, Mo.; ten grandchildren, David, Matt, Yelena, Tamara and Irina Walter, Hannah, Tori and Austin Barber, and Miles and Leah Spandle; her sister, Ruth Morrison; and her brother, Vance Nash.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 31, 2004, in GormanScharpf Brentwood Chapel. Burial will follow in Springfield National Cemetery. No visitation is planned, however, friends may call after 1 p.m. today in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for your charitable contribution to the Southwest Missouri Humane Society as a continued expression of Jo's deep love for animals.

 Published 03/30/04 in the Springfield, MO News-Leader