Josephine Hunt

The Sweetest Mama in the World!

JOSEPHINE HUNT was born on December 1, 1944 to Henry Whitehead and Luvenia Ward in Osceola, Arkansas and was 6th of 15 children.

Jo was raised in Marion, Arkansas where she professed her belief in Jesus Christ and was baptized. Jo moved with her family to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1966 and was a Manager at White Castles. In the 70’s she took a job at St. Vincent Hospital and later St. Vincent Breast Center, where she worked for over 45 years until she retired. Jo worked in various capacities over the years at her church. She worked in the nursery and food pantry. She took pride in feeding others, both physically and spiritually. Those who
visited the food pantry often came on days even when they weren’t scheduled to come in order to talk and have coffee with Jo. She was concerned about whether or not the neighborhood children were getting enough to eat and determined that they would not be hungry on her watch. So, she started cooking dinner for the Wednesday Children’s Ministry kids. She even held a Summer Cooking Camp where she taught about 6 middle school girls how to make her awesome biscuits perfectly! Her nurturing spirit endeared her to children, and she was both well-loved and respected by all who had the pleasure of serving with her.

Mom loved to go fishing, traveling; beaches were her favorite and she loved to cook. I will miss our tea parties that started back when I was a little girl and continued through my adult life and expanded to my friends with our fancy teacups. I’ll especially miss those days where we just sat on the sofa & had tea or sometimes a bowl of Gelato & chit chatted. She was partial to Lobster, Crab Legs and Catfish. Her signature dishes were greens, dressing, and sweet potato pie.

Josephine earned her wings on November 15, 2021. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Ella Mae Smothers, and her brothers, Infant Brother, Henry Jr., Jimmy, Roosevelt Sr., Bennie, Joe Willie, Joe Nathan, and Johnny Whitehead.

Survivors include her daughter Gwendolyn Richardson (John), Sisters, Betty Jean Brown from Nashville, Tennessee, Hazel Mae Burnside (Kevin) and Linda Lou Diggs from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Brother Robert Whitehead from Memphis, Tennessee, and a multitude of nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends.