Josephine Gilpin, 95, longtime Central Park resident and former cook with Aberdeen School District, died Tuesday afternoon, April 18, 2017, at Summit Pacific Hospital in Elma.

She was born on June 15, 1921, on the family farm in Wishkah Valley to Martin and Regina (Netko) Pekola. She graduated from Wishkah Valley High School in 1940. Then on June 26, 1941, she married Ernest ‘Carl’ Gilpin in Montesano, Wash. He passed away on April 8, 1988.

Josephine worked for the Aberdeen School District as a cook for many years. Before that she was a clerk at the Sunset Hardware Co. in Aberdeen. She was a charter member of the Central Park Methodist Church and a member of the Central Park Lion’s Ladies Auxiliary. She also hosted for many years a Bible Study at her home on Tuesdays. She was an avid gardener, growing flowers, especially dahlia’s and rhododendrons. She also collected spoons and crocheted.

She is survived by two sons: Richard (Mary Susan) Gilpin of Tumwater and Michael (Judy) Gilpin of Sun City West, Ariz.; a brother, Joseph Pekola of Wishkah Valley; three grandsons and three great-grandsons. She was preceded in death by brothers, Mike and Stanley Pekola.

There will be a graveside service for Josephine on Tuesday, April 25, at 11 a.m. in The Wynoochee Cemetery, Montesano, Wash. Reception to follow at Central Park Methodist Church.

A message of condolence or of a memory can be sent to the family at www.fernhillfuneral.com.

Arrangements are entrusted to Twibell’s Fern Hill Funeral Home in Aberdeen, Wash.