Josephine Walsh Frandsen was born March 15, 1923, in Seattle, and passed away on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2011, at her home in Freeland.

Josephine was the third of four daughters born to Joseph Francis Walsh and Catherine Grady Walsh of Roslyn, Wash. Her sisters, Alice, Marie and Francis all preceded her in death.

Josephine spent her early years in Roslyn; however when her mother suddenly passed away in 1928, her father, unable to raise four little girls on his own, split the family up. Josephine went to live with friends in Olympia. Two years later, she returned to Roslyn and eventually graduated from Cle Elum High School in 1941.

In the fall of ‘41, she returned to Seattle, lived with a cousin and attended business school. It was this cousin who set Josephine up on a blind date with Kenneth Ray Frandsen. It was love at first sight and wedding bells soon rang. The couple was wed on Ken’s 21st birthday in 1942.

At the time Ken was employed with Todd Shipyards and Josephine was working as a bookkeeper for a small local trucking company. World War II soon changed this. Ken shipped out for the Pacific while their first child, Jan, was on the way.

Ken returned safely from the war in 1945 and their second son, Paul, was born in 1946. For a while, Josephine remained home caring for her children, but when Paul needed special shoes that the couple could not afford, Josephine returned to work taking a bookkeeping job with another local trucking company, Garfield Transfer. Two more children followed, M’Liss and Erin.

Josephine worked hard at the job learning the ins and outs of the trucking and warehousing business. She eventually became the office manager and when the owner’s widows decided to sell their business in the 1960s, Josephine and Ken stepped forward. In the 1970s, under Josephine’s guidance, Garfield Truck Lines and its subsidiaries became one of the largest independent trucking and warehouse distributing companies in the Pacific Northwest. They eventually built a 300,000-square-foot distribution center in Renton.

Long before woman’s liberation, Josephine was a recognized pioneer in an all male profession. The little five-foot red-head always held her own against the toughest Teamster or union agitator.

In 1985 Josephine and Ken decided to retire. They built a home in 1989 at Bush Point overlooking Admiralty Inlet on Whidbey Island. Over the next 20 years, Josephine and Ken enjoyed their family, travel, golf, gardening and watching the passing ships and glorious sunsets from the deck and family room of their Bush Point home.

Josephine is survived by her husband of 69 years, Kenneth Ray Frandsen; the couple’s four children and spouses, Jan and Rebecca Frandsen of Renton, Paul and Cheryl Frandsen of Riverside, Calif., M’Liss Rae and Michael Hawley of Freeland; and Erin and Allen Vautier of Mukilteo; as well as seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Friends and family may sign and view guestbook and online obit at www.visserfuneralhome.com.