Josefa Lunsford Herron

Josefa (Jo) Lunsford Herron, formerly of South Turkey Creek Road, Leicester, died on Monday, April 10, 2006 in Mountain Area Hospice Solace Center. Born July 26, 1923 in McDowell County, Mrs. Herron was the daughter of the late Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Nellie Sara Triplett Lunsford. She was preceded in death by two sisters, Sara Kern Lunsford and Nellie Lunsford Greenawald; a brother, Blackwell Lamar Lunsford. She graduated from Leicester High School in 1939 and majored in Economics and Business Administration at George Washington University and American University in Washington, DC. and worked in banking and non profit organizations including Pisgah Girl Scout Council. She served in the Air Transport Command of the U.S. Army Air Corps, during WW II and was stationed at Long Beach AAF in CA and at Orly Air Field in Paris, France, and she received the European Campaign Medal. She was a lifetime member of the VFW Post 891. She was active over a decade with the College for seniors at the NC Center for Creative Retirement, UNCA, and did volunteer work in other local organizations. She and her brother, Lamar participated with production of the Annual Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, which was founded by their father in 1928. She was a member of Central United Methodist Church in Asheville. She is survived by her husband of more than 50 years, Lewis (Lew) E. Herron; daughters, Lora Marie Coffey and husband William Preston Coffey, Capt. Carol Jo Herron, USN, (retired) and fiancé Greg O’Neal; son, Lewis Edward (Ed) Herron and wife, Karen Hartman Herron; three grandchildren, Amy Katherine, Callie Lamar, and Brett Edward Herron; three sisters, Ellen Lunsford Boza, Lynn Lunsford Hadley, and Merton Lunsford Brown, a sister-in-law, Edna Tuck Lunsford; several nieces, nephews and cousins. Graveside services will be held 2:00 P.M. Wednesday in the chapel of the WNC State Veterans Cemetery with the Rev. Joe Fulk officiating. Military honors will be conducted by the Buncombe County Veterans Council. The family will receive friends 7:00 – 8:30 P.M. Tuesday at Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian on Long Shoals Road. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mountain Area Hospice, P.O. Box 25338 Asheville, NC 28813 or to the American Cancer Society, 120 Executive Park, Building 1 Asheville, NC 28801.