Josephine Cutright, 93, a resident of Elkins, went to her heavenly home on April 27, 2015 at Elkins Rehabilitation and Care Center. Josephine was born on September 14, 1921 in Blue Rock. She was the youngest of five children born to Joseph and Eva Currence Cutright. Surviving are several nieces and nephews, Sadie and Clyde Landis, Bonnie and Donnie Grimes, Phyllis Pulley, Monzel Sovereen, Butch and Roydetta Cutright, Wanna Simmons, Robert and Marge Curtight, Joan and Garry Tacy, Linda and Arnold Underwood, Dortha Jean and David Harris, Ava and Steele Hinton and Sue and Danny Cain. Several great-nieces and nephews also survive. She was preceded in death by her parents and siblings, Thaddeus and his wife Edith, Edgar Cutright and wife Vivian, Leona Sovereen and husband Lorenzo, and Dortha Coffman and husband Vernon. Her academic career began in a one room school at Adolph that housed grades 1-9. She fondly remembered her elementary teacher, Thelma Zickefoose who taught her to read. She told about walking or riding a horse to school when snow blanketed the roads with 20 or more inches of snow. At this time, school was never cancelled nor delayed. She recalled many facts about the education in this one room school-such as if one misbehaved a whipping with a switch would occur immediately after the incident. Later, as she entered the seventh grade, her brother, Thaddeus Cutright, became her teacher. She gave examples of how she used to have to clean the school, bring in the coal and wood for the pop-bellied stove, take out the ashes, and before she left at night the stove had to be banked. After completing ninth grade, she attended Tygarts Valley High School where she graduated with several honors in May, 1939. After graduation she left home to work in the factories in Maryland. During World War II she worked in the airplane factory in Baltimore, Maryland. As “Rosie the Riveter” she received an award for this work. She left the work that she loved to come home and take care of her parents. After both parents passed, she once again began her life in the world of work. She was employed as a custodian at Davis and Elkins College and retired from Jennings Randolph Federal Building. After retirement she spent her time at her home in Mill Creek doing the things she loved to do-crocheting, reading, sewing and designing her own clothing, making and quilting quilts for various family members, mowing her own yard (which she did until she was 75) and making regular visits to the Senior Citizens Center. She was a member of the Mill Creek United Methodist Church where she was a Sunday school teacher for the adult class for a number of years and a member of the Women’s Circle. Since September 25, 2012 after surviving cancer surgery, she was a resident of the ERCC in Elkins. She was the last surviving member of her immediate family. She welcomed family and friends who came to visit and she loved the cards she got from various area churches and her friends. To her nieces and nephews, she has been a tower of strength, someone to go to in both happy and sad times. The family sincerely appreciates the excellent and compassionate care she received during her final days at the ERCC. The entire staff strived to make her as comfortable as possible. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Hospice Care of Elkins for their dedicated services. Anyone wishing to honor “Aunt Jope” can do so by making a donation to the Mill Creek United Methodist Church or the Blue Rock Church. A visitation will be held Thursday, April 30, 2015 from 11AM until 12PM, the funeral hour. Rev. Dr. Basil A. Hensley will officiate and interment will follow in Blue Rock Cemetery.
