Josephine (Fraser) Schirra (1924 - 2015)

Born 26 Mar 1924 in Seattle, King, Washington, United States

Died 27 Apr 2015 at age 91 in Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego, California, United States

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Biography

Obituary

Schirra, Josephine F.

03/26/1924 ~ 04/27/2015

RANCHO SANTA FE-- Daughter of Donald and Josephine Fraser. Sister to Jane Pickett - deceased. Wife of Captain Walter M. Schirra. Jo passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family. Jo was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, until she was a teenager and her mother remarried. Becoming a Navy Junior she then travelled attending a different school almost every year including two years in Shanghai and a year in Coronado. Graduating she attended Mills College then joined her family on the east coast. She married her husband Wally Schirra in 1946. Then the real adventure began. She was very proud to be a Navy wife and one of the original first seven astronaut wives. Jo and Wally were married 62 wonderfully joyous and exciting years until he passed away in 2007. Jo was a sun worshiper with a great love of nature and all outdoor sports. She loved the mountains, wildlife and wild flowers but the sea had a strong hold. Leading to a wonderful home in Kauai and a permanent residence in Rancho Santa Fe in 1984. They continued to travel the world but were always happy to get back to their own backyard with their dogs. Jo has joined Wally's orbit now. Her ashes will be sprinkled in the Pacific off San Diego and Kauai eventually meeting up with Wally's in the sea. She is survived by her son Walter M. Schirra III of San Francisco and daughter Suzanne Schirrra of Vail, CO, and her sweet Yellow Lab, Caddis. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to The Nature Conservancy, The National Parks Foundation or The Humane Society in her name.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Published in The San Diego Union Tribune, 03 May 2015

See also:

• Find A Grave: Memorial #146089002
• Ancestry Profile
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC3H-SXB : accessed 12 March 2019), Josephine Fraser in household of Donald R Fraser, Seattle, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 89, sheet 19A, line 3, family 283, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2497; FHL microfilm 2,342,231.