Josetta Ruth Strauss

Josetta Ruth Strauss, 85 years of age, passed away peacefully last week in her home in Altamonte Springs, FL. She is survived by her daughter Amy W. Steen and her husband Stuart of Fairfax, VA, her daughter Jean B. Hood and her husband John of Apopka, FL, her daughter Mary-Meg Walsh of Whitinsville, MA, her daughter Sueanne Larson and her husband Bob of Fulshear, TX, and her son, John E. Williams, III and his wife Michelle of Deltona, FL. She also is survived by her eleven grandchildren, Robert, Johnny and his wife Becca, Amy and her husband Tim, Stuart III, Elizabeth, Sarah and her husband Brendan, Anna, Ethan, Jared, Michael and Emily.

Born of German and Hungarian parents in Wheeling, WV in 1932, she grew up in the Dimmeydale neighborhood graduating high school from St. Joseph's Academy. She graduated from Wheeling Hospital School of Nursing in 1953 and became a Registered Nurse. In 1955, she graduated from St. Francis Hospital School of Anesthesia in Pittsburg, PA becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). In 1982, she received her Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing from Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL.

While working at Jackson Memorial Hospital and attending the University of Miami, she met John E. Williams, Jr. who became her husband. They were married for 20 years and raised their five children in Windermere, FL. In 1982, she married Don Duckworth and they lived in Richmond, VA, Raleigh, NC and Orlando FL. She later moved to Homosassa, FL and in March of 2017, returned to the Orlando area, living in Altamonte Springs. She worked as a CRNA in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia. She was very active in the Catholic Church serving as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and teaching religious education. She enjoyed crocheting, collecting thimbles, attending the Red Hat Society activities and visiting her children and grandchildren.

A mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, December 29, at the St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 7040 South Suncoast Blvd. in Homosassa, FL. Interment will follow at Fountains Memorial Park, 5635 W. Green Acres St. in Homosassa, FL.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions to be made to the Center for Action and Contemplation, P.O. Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195, www.cac.org or the American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX 75231, www.heart.org.