Obituary of Josephine Eleen Pemberton-Falcon

Josephine (Jo) Eleen (Short) Pemberton Falcon was born on March 24, 1928, in Forsyth, Montana, to Maxwell Short (Watertown, New York) and Ethel (Scoles) Short (Augusta, Wisconsin). Josephine grew up in Colstrip, Montana, the youngest of her three siblings: Marie Smith, Louise Sims, and Gerald Short.

On June 19, 1949, Josephine married Raymond Dean Pemberton of Forsyth, Montana. Together, they relocated from Montana to Washington State and eventually settled on a small, five-acre farm in Federal Way, where they raised their four daughters: Carla Eller, Jo Hobbs, Leta Warren, and Sharon Chin.

Josephine worked as a Federal Way School District school bus driver until she retired in 1980. Jo and Ray sold their Federal Way home and bought a motorhome to become snow birds. They spent their winters in Yuma, Arizona, and returned home to Washington and Oregon during the summers to stay with their daughters. In 1985, Jo and Ray moved to Sumner, Washington, where they gave up their snow bird dreams when Ray was diagnosed with cancer. After a short battle with cancer, Ray preceded Jo in death.

In 1987, Jo moved back to Forsyth after she met Allen Joseph Falcon while visiting her sisters. While in Forsyth, Jo drove school bus for a few years until she and Al moved to Wisdom, Montana, where Al worked on a ranch. Jo cared for the ranch crew by preparing meals during hay season and by maintaining the ranch as a homemaker. Al later passed away due to cancer in 1997; Jo was widowed a second time.

Jo returned to Washington to be close to her daughters and bought a home in Puyallup where she lived for several years before relocating to Bonney Lake, Washington, where she lived for the remainder of her life. After a very brief hospitalization in Auburn, Washington, Josephine passed away surrounded by her daughters, sons-in-law, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, on November 22, 2023, at the amazing age of 95 years old.

She was preceded in death by her parents; siblings; husband, Ray Pemberton; husband, Al Falcon; daughter, Leta Warren; and son-in-law, Norman Hobbs. She is survived by her daughters: Carla (Douglas) Eller of Bonney Lake, WA; Jo Hobbs of Vancouver, WA; Sharon (Dennis) Chin, of Tacoma, WA; and her son-in-law, Stephen Warren of Colstrip, MT. Jo leaves a legacy of twelve grandchildren located throughout Washington, Oregon, and Montana. She especially cherished her many great grandchildren, all of whom brightened her day whenever she saw them. Josephine was deeply loved by her family and will be forever missed.

A celebration of life/service will be announced in the near future after the Holidays.