My big sister Josie Greathouse Fox if you knew her you most likely know a funny story about her. From the time she was born on September 17, 1972 her and her big blue eyes have been entertaining. She has always been a nut. When she was 11 months old she would sneak over and turn off the TV and run away just laughing. She had a great childhood growing up just outside of Lynndyl on the family farm with our dad & mom Russell and Cindy, our big brother Ryan, little brother Fred and me. Josie and our parents have always been close. She loved both of them so much. In 1989 she had her first kid Spencer. She was proud of the man he was becoming. In 1994 her daughter Hunter was born. She loved how Hunter was her own person. In 2006 she found Doug and they got married January 18th 2007. Josie often referred to him as her perfect husband. Doug made Josie so happy. She gained two great kids when they got married Brian and Katrina. She loved them very much, along with the rest of Doug’s family.
Josie has always been the most loyal & loving daughter, sister, mother, wife, and friend. She did and always will protect her family & friends from anyone and anything she could. She got that from our dad. I felt sorry for anyone that would do or say anything to us that she didn’t like. Being Josie’s family and friend meant you had a protective shield around you at all times. One day on our way home from school on the bus an older girl was being mean to me so when Josie went to get off the bus she grabbed the girl’s pigtail and drug from the back of the bus to the front dropped her and got off the bus. Needless to say that girl was pretty nice to me after that. She would also take on school bullies that were older then her and publicize the fight before hand. Although, sometimes we would need protecting from her like when she would hold Fred and me down and act like she was going to spit on us. Ryan could hold his own. She just liked to tease him and his friends.
Josie was concerned about everyone she was around. She got that from our mom. Doug and Josie took his mom to the airport not too long ago. She made Doug ask his adult mother if she needed any money for her trip and then later on that night she left the comedy show they were at to call Doug’s mom to make sure she made it ok.
Josie was amazingly talented and athletic. When she did something she did it good. She played little league baseball with the boys when she was little and she was better then most of them. She has played on many city softball and volleyball teams throughout her life. She loved playing on the teams with Doug and our mom and she even got to play with Spencer. If anyone would spike the ball toward my mom or jump in front of her to get the ball she would make sure they knew not to do that to her mom. She raced motorcycles and won many awards. She mastered Jujitsu, welding, hunting, scuba diving, leg wresting which I learned the hard way not to challenger her, and so many other things. One of the most recent mastered talents was Internet shopping. She would start bidding on something because it seemed like a steal and then would get mad when people would bid against her. She couldn’t let them win so she would keep bidding and end up with things that she didn’t need, like a cotton candy machine.
Josie was a giver. Which works out pretty good when you win a lot of stuff that you don’t need, well not that much stuff Doug. When she lived in Lehi one of her neighbors lost his job so she gave them half of the beef she just got from our parents. And on Halloween my boys would only have to go to Josie and Doug’s house and the grandparents and the boys would have more then enough. That’s one of the reasons why her and Doug were the perfect couple they were always making sure everyone had what they needed.
Then with Josie there is the shock factor. She was the Queen of shock. She would do and say anything to make people blush. The deputies that she worked with would agree with that. Because if you have been around her you know that Josie would always say what was on her mind, you knew where you stood with her, and she wouldn’t edit it just because of who could hear her. And an argument you had no chance. Her comebacks were priceless. I still have a few that I need to use that she taught me.
Josie was always the life of the party. A party just wasn’t a party until she showed up. She could make any situation fun. Heaven must have needed someone to liven it up. Josie was such a great dancer and an even better Karaokier. She absolutely loved it and she had a beautiful voice. She loved it so much that we considered just having everyone Karaoke today. Once there was a group of us karaoking and we came up with a plan that Josie would go pick the song out and then have the lady over the Karaoking introduce our group as Josie and the pussycats and then us backup singers would go up on stage with her and we would sing. Well Josie changed the name and there was no way we were going to go up there with that name, which I can’t repeat, and besides that we couldn’t stop laughing. Her two biggest hits were I Love Rock & Roll by Joan Jett and Crazy by Patsy Cline.
Like everything Josie was great at being a Millard Co. Sheriff Deputy. That’s something that she had always wanted to do. She had been in training for it her whole life. When she first went into the police academy the first thing she did was ask her roommate if she was a lesbian or not because she needed to know if she could get dressed in the room or if she needed to get dressed in the bathroom. She also told us that she wasn’t going to give ugly people tickets because that’s the only break in life they would get.
Things Josie loved the most were
- Her family especially Spencer and Hunter
- Her perfect husband
- Working cattle with our dad and brothers
- Hunting anything – she was deer hunting with my mom and saw a coyote so she got out plugged it and then carried on with the deer hunt. She was always looking for something to shoot and she was a good shot.
- She loved
- Her job and the people she worked with
- Karaoke
- Las Vegas with Doug
- Chai
- Boston Crème enough that she threatened her own aunt with a ticket if she didn’t make her some
- She loved
- Neil Diamond, Lawrence Welk, Big & Rich she just loved music
- Tattoos
- Being called Aunt Jo Jo and we did try to get our kids to call her Aunt Jo Jo the Po Po
- And so many more things
Our family members have given me a couple of things that I would like to share:
Tess Greathouse wrote this for Josie:
Josie you are so nice, I love you, your mom and dad love you, your sister & brothers they miss you, I miss you, you will see your grandma and grandpa in Heaven, we all love you, I love you, I miss you
Chasie our sister-in-law wrote this poem for Josie called:
She is in Your Heart
When I heard the news I began to cry,
How could he take her how could she die?
The quiet night was broken by my sobs,
And in my pleading I yelled at god.
How can you do this?
Do you really think its fair?
You can’t have her please dear lord
She had so much more to share.
The badge she earned with blood and sweat was her childhood dream.
The hurt and pain that this will cause is bigger than you think.
Without a word but a single tear he took my hand,
And in his words he gave this gift to help me understand.
My child you know I love you and so her fate is true,
The trembling your heart I promise to subdue.
But please know I pick only the best to return home to me,
I need her strength and protecting hand up in heaven you see.
She can watch with wings of angels and see you through this pain,
I lent to you my little girl but I must call her back again.
She will know you miss her and she will fill your heart,
She will make her presence known so you don’t fall apart.
And when you start to miss her and the void is just too deep,
Remember please my dear child she is in our hearts to keep.
