Josephine Whitfield

Beloved wife, mother and grandmother Josephine “Jo” Gough Whitfield, 89, passed away on Monday, October 27, at Banner University Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona. Josephine lived in south Tempe, Arizona, for almost 50 years at the time of her passing.

She was an accomplished pianist since childhood and loved taking care of and decorating her home and working in the garden. She was extremely fond of sweets and enjoyed baking and making deserts. Her favorite pastime activity during her senior years was doing 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles. She was a member of St. Matthew Methodist Church, Mesa, Arizona, for 16 years.

Josephine, an only child, was born on April 3, 1932, in Scarborough, England, to Cyril and Hilda Gough. She often reminisced about growing up in a British seaside town during World War Two and regularly attending professional cricket and tennis matches. She attended college in Sheffield and was teaching school in Leeds when she met her late husband, USAF Major Fitzhugh Lewis “Whit” Whitfield, at a dance in Oxford. They wed on April 16, 1955, in Scarborough and lived in both England and the United States until moving to Tucson, Arizona, in 1963 with their three daughters. Josephine started working as a produce clerk at Smitty’s Big Town when they moved to Tempe in 1972. She retired from Fry’s Food Stores 25 years later in 1997. Jo and Whit took their girls to California for summer vacations and their extensive travels across the globe included over 30 ocean cruises.

Josephine was preceded in death by her husband, Fitzhugh L. Whitfield, and her youngest grandson, John E. Nichols Jr. She is survived by daughters Joanna W. Kopf of Mesa, Jennifer W. McLoughlin of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, BC, Julia W. Nichols of Lake Stevens, Washington, three grandsons and four great-granddaughters.

Viewing and funeral services are at 2:30 PM, on Monday, October 4, at St. Matthew Methodist Church, 2540 W Baseline Rd, Mesa, AZ 85202.