Jo M. Wolfe passed away in Goshen on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, after a brief illness. She was 98 years old.
Josephine was born on an austere rural Pennsylvania farm to Joseph Clementoni and Marie Peterman, a first-generation Italian immigrant father and a schoolteacher mother whose roots date back to 1720s Philadelphia.
Jo embodied their pioneer spirit with her hard work ethic and relentless attention to the well-being of her own family.
After leaving the farm on her own at a young age Jo moved to Orange County, New York, and learned to be a secretary and stenographer in post-War America, rapidly establishing her own court reporting business where, for more than seven decades, she and her countless staff would proudly serve the law community of the area.
When her son James rejoined her from the farm, they settled in Goshen and established a lifelong connection to the community that continues until this very day.
Jo embraced the passions of the times, whether it be women’s baseball, an avid bowler, often player and one time president of the Orange County Golf Club, as well as her weekly card games with friends - which extended to the very end of her life at Glen Arden -and where every baseball game was an opportunity for a wager and lament her favorite Braves team over a Rob Roy cocktail; the sun setting on another day of a busy life.
Before retiring at the age of 93, Jo’s workdays were renown to include daily trips to the Post Office for her business mail, regular visits to the law offices in town to drop off testimony or just endlessly work every room she entered. The style with which she managed her work was evident in the ubiquitous plastic paperwork bin on the front porch, or her black bound appointment book carefully placed next to the first touch tone telephone in town – the simple dichotomy of old school and cutting edge that was her long life.
Jo is survived by her loving and grateful son James and his wife Joan of Middletown; her grandson Kyle and his wife Julie of Ashland, Mass., and her granddaughter Shannon and her husband Thierry and her great grandson Gabin, all of Garches, France; and by her sister Marylou of Alabama; as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews.
She is also loved by her step grandchildren Rick and Kelly Worslayer and their families originally of Middletown.
Jo was predeceased by her former husband John of Walden; her baby sister Louise, brothers Joseph, Bernard, Armand and Kenny, all of Pennsylvania.
She will be dearly missed by everyone who ever had the pleasure of meeting and knowing her.
Visitation and services were held at Donovan Funeral Home in Goshen on June 1. She will be interned at the First Presbyterian Church of Goshen where she was a dedicated member.
Donations in her name should be made to the church at 33 Park Place, Goshen NY 10924.
Arrangements by Donovan Funeral Home, Inc., Goshen (www.donovanfunerals.com).