Josephine Jo Schumann Zimmerman

December 31, 1923 – September 15, 2023

In care of

Lincoln Memorial Park & Funeral Home

Josephine (Jo) Schumann Zimmerman was born to her parents William and Irene (Henkle) Schumann in Clarkston, Asotin County, Washington. Jo was a gifted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who passed away peacefully at the age of 99 on September 15, 2023 in Palo Alto, California just three months from turning 100.

Jo and her mother moved from Clarkston to Portland, OR where they lived with her mother’s parents, John Wesley Henkle and Eva Edna Henkle. Jo graduated from Portland’s Franklin High School in January 1942. Her first paying job was with Meier & Frank Department Store. She and other high school students were tasked with counting the number of people who used the elevator in their downtown store. She continued working for them in their Customer Service Department. She attended Oregon State College (OSC) in Corvallis, OR where she majored in Home Economics. She met her husband, Orin Zimmerman, there on a blind date, and were married on her 20th birthday at her grandparents’ home. Orin then immediately deployed to fight in World War II.

After the war and after graduation in 1947, Jo became a Home Economics Instructor at Linfield College in McMinnville, OR for three years. She and Orin built their first of many homes in Yamhill, OR. They bought and completed half-finished houses in the 50's in Dundee, OR and a beach house in Lincoln City, OR. They moved to Tigard, OR in September 1958 and built two more homes. Each house was jointly designed by Jo and Orin, with Orin providing much of the sweat equity for their construction.

In the 1960's, Jo's passion for 4-H and home making culminated in her winning the Oregon State Fair “Tops in Textiles” award (Open Class Textiles) with her 32 entered articles. Jo continued to be deeply involved with 4-H and lead Sewing, Knitting, and Cooking groups that included her daughter Janet and friends. She became a 4-H Fair Judge and also taught others to be Judges. She helped to develop the Oregon State 4-H Knitting and Crocheting program material and was a 4-H leader for 30 years. Jo served as the Treasurer for the Tigard United Methodist Church for many years. She also became involved with the Henckel Family Genealogy and supported William and Minnie Junkin who were the authors of the "The Henckel Genealogy", a 1,447-page book covering the years 1500-1960.

In the 70's, she started volunteering at the Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin, OR, joined PEO, and became active in the Oregon State University (OSU) Mothers Club serving as the State President in 1979. As empty nesters, Orin accepted an 18-month assignment with Energy Power Research Institute (EPRI) in California and moved to Palo Alto, CA area in 1978, where they remained.

In the 80's they bought and renovated a home in Menlo Park, CA where they cared for her mother (Irene Schumann) for several years.

Their home building days were not over. They also built three beach houses on a five-acre ocean-front lot in Newport, OR that had been purchased in the late 70's. The homes are the only ones on Ocean View Drive.

In 1995 they sold their Menlo Park home and moved into Channing House, a multi-level senior care residence. She and Orin loved adventures and frequently boarded cruise ships participating in a many of the excursions to a variety of places covering all seven contents. She maintained her creativity with a focus on making hundreds of quilts in her lifetime. Several of her quilts earned ribbons at the San Mateo County Fair.

At age 95, her advice to live a long life was “Just don’t worry about anything, take it easy, and do what you want to do because it’s your life.” To the kids, she was Betty Crocker, Suzie Homemaker and Domestic Goddess all rolled into one as she listened and supported them while quietly teaching them life’s lessons.

She was interned at Portland, OR’s Lincoln Memorial Cemetery Maplewood Gardens [MAPLEWOOD Row-3D8 Lot-COLU Space-21C] on October 27, 2023 with her husband who passed away earlier on February 28, 2022. This is the same Cemetery that her parents, William and Irene Schumann, and her grandparents, John Wesley and Eva Edna (Scott) Henkle, are buried. She is preceded in her death by Orin Frank Zimmerman, her husband of 78 years, her parents William Eli Schumann and Irene Lydia (Henkle) Schuman. She is survived by her three children (Scott Zimmerman, Janet Shelton, and Richard Zimmerman [wife Susan]), five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.