Josephine Rose Rieke

Josephine Rose Rieke departed this life on November 7th, 2023, at the age of 96, six weeks shy of her 97th birthday, affectionately known as Posey by her family of origin, and the love of her life, Norbert, her husband of 65 years. To the rest of us, she was just Mom. She was known for making epic apple pies and huge holiday meals to which everyone was welcome. Also, she loved her late husband, Blue bloods and chocolate, not necessarily in that order.

Josephine started her life adventure in Philadelphia, PA. After a brief engagement, she married a young naval officer, Norbert Rieke, and moved across the country to San Diego, CA, and then to Kyoto, Japan. She would spend 25 years as a homemaker, raising five children. Then she entered the workforce, ultimately working as Logistics Specialist for 20 years before retiring from the Department of the Army.

Josephine is preceded in death by her parents, Josephine Moyer and James Joseph Dunphy, and her siblings, James Dunphy, Eleanor Seitz and Mary Dunphy. She is survived by her children, James Michael Rieke, Norbert Anthony Riieke (Ruth), Mary Dalton (Joseph), Anna Hundley (Mike) and Malcolm Rieke (Despina). She is also survived by her grandchildren, Lindsey Russell (Devin), Savannah Dalton, Joseph Dalton IV, Nicolas Rieke and Alexander Rieke. She was also blessed with lovely great grandchildren, Robert Bo Ragan, Hadley Cooper Russell and Devlin Rose Russell.

A celebration of her life will be held at St. Paul's Catholic Church, New Bern, NC, at 11:00 a.m. on December 9th, 2023. Later she will be interred with her beloved husband, Norbert, at San Luis Rey MIssion in Oceanside, CA.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cottenfuneralhome.com for the Rieke family.