Josephine Clara Bassett

Josephine Clara Bassett, known to everyone simply as “Jo,” lived a rich and vibrant life, touching many hearts in her community and beyond. Jo died peacefully on Friday, March 21, 2025, at the age of 99, in the house she and her husband Carl Bassett built in Edgewood in 1960.

Josephine descends from German immigrant families who came to America in the 1840s and built family farming operations on New York’s Long Island and in the Hudson River Valley. Born March 1, 1926, Jo was the first child of the late Ferdinand and Clara Froehlich Hoeffner whose family farm in Montgomery, New York, still operates today.

Josephine was born with a quick mind, a natural curiosity, and a spirit for adventure. She excelled in school, graduating as the valedictorian of her junior high school class and the salutatorian of her senior high class. She completed her studies at Spencerian Business College in Newburgh, New York, and then began her career, working first for a wholesale grocer in Newburgh and then for Prudential Insurance Company.

In the late 1940s, while in her early 20s, Josephine and her sister bought bus tickets for a cross-country trip that took them to San Francisco and Los Angeles and then back home to New York. As Prudential expanded their operations westward, an opportunity arose for Josephine to become the Officer Manager of the company’s new Albuquerque, New Mexico location. She arrived by train in March 1950, at the old Alvarado Hotel, wearing her finest winter wool suit. Years later, she recalled stepping off the train into the warm New Mexico sun and thinking, “Ah, I could get used to this.” And so, she did. One Sunday, after attending a rodeo in Estancia, she and several girlfriends were on their way back to Albuquerque on old Route 66 when they had a flat tire and had to pull off the road. They pulled over alongside ranch land known then and still today as the “Bassett Ranch.” Josephine’s future husband, 27-year-old Carl Bassett, chanced upon the girls, fixed the flat tire, and the rest—as they say—is history. Carl asked Jo for a date and the two were married on New Year’s Day, 1952. The couple were blessed with 53 years of marriage, 6 children, 7 grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren. For history buffs, Carl and Jo’s story is recounted in a two-part article in the Independent newspaper, titled “The Bassetts: Their Story is the Town’s,” by Theresa M. Oderman, published on July 31, 2002 and August 7, 2002.

Together, Carl and Josephine were pillars of the Edgewood and Tri-County community. They donated land to the Catholic Church for a church building, and donated the land on which Edgewood’s first Community Center and Fire Station were built. Like Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Carl and his sons even took up carpenter’s tools and helped build both the Community Center and the Fire Station.

For over 50 years Josephine served as a voter registrar, precinct election worker, served as a member on the Mountain Valley Cemetery Board and as a Notary Public. Along the way she was also a 30+-year member of the Edgewood Soil and Water Conservation District, including a stint as a District Supervisor. She served as the adult leader for the Edgewood Chaparral 4-H Club and her home served as one the first locations for an emergency phone to contact the Edgewood Volunteer Fire Department. Her list of firsts is impressive: an avid reader, Josephine was instrumental in organizing Edgewood’s first public library; she was a charter member of the Edgewood Senior Citizen’s Center and the Edgewood Lion’s Club; and she was a moving force in getting the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church built in Edgewood. A stalwart Democrat, Jo was also active in the Santa Fe County Democratic Party, attending precinct and county meetings and conventions for many years.

In 2015, one of her neighbors coined Jo the “Google of Edgewood,” meaning the person to whom everyone came to for help without having to “Google” what they needed. See “The Google for us Older Folks is a Lady Named Jo,” by Judith Costello, published in the Independent newspaper, Nov. 4-10, 2015.

In recognition of her many years of civic service, Josephine was the recipient of an Edgewood COW (Community on the Way) Award, and the Ben and Carmen Lujan Service Award. The Town of Edgewood designated August 6, 2016 as “JO BASSETT DAY,” and issued a written proclamation that invited “all residents of Edgewood to reflect upon and honor” Jo’s lifetime of achievements, “and the impact she has left upon the Town of Edgewood.” Jo leaves behind an unmatched legacy of service to her community and state, one that will continue to inspire and impact future generations.

Jo is survived by five of her six children, Frances, Eugene, William (“Bill”), John and Kenneth Bassett; one daughter in-law Julie Bassett, grandchildren Megan Kulju (Jason Kulju), Natasha Romero (Casey Charleton), Amanda Bassett (Hicham Chebakou), William Bassett (Megan Sperber), Kelly Bassett, Olivia Fenton (Jacob Fenton) and Christopher Weiss (Leslie Gideon); great-grandchildren Jason (JJ), Makenna, and Mallory Kulju; Aubern, Kennedy, and Clara Mae Bassett; Cora Fenton, Emma Garcia, Levi Gideon, Eli Charleton and Solomon Charleton-Jones; sister Marie Pulvirent; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Jo was preceded in death by her husband Carl and her eldest son James (“Jimmy”); her parents; three brothers, Philip, George and John Hoeffner; sister Clare Earl; brothers-in-law William Earl and John Pulvirent; and sisters-in-law Karen, Ann, and Edith Hoeffner.

The Bassett Family especially wants to thank Suzanne St. Pierre and Amanda Alberdi for the kind and loving care they provided to Jo during the final years and months of her life.

A viewing will be held at Harris- Hanlon Mortuary in Moriarty April 2nd from 2:00-5:00 pm followed by a rosary at 7 pm at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Edgewood. Jo’s celebration of life funeral mass will be held on April 3rd at 10:00 am at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church with burial to follow at Mountain Valley Cemetery in Barton, New Mexico.

Pallbearers are William Bassett, Christopher Weiss, Jason (JJ) Kulju Jr., Hicham Chebakou, Larry Gallant, and Robert Girard.

Honorary Pallbearers are Philip (Philly) Hoeffner, Steve Pulvirent, Ricky Parker, Paul Alderete, Matt Kehoe, and the late Waylen Riley.

The family requests any donations in honor of Jo be made to the Estancia Valley Catholic Parish, https://www.estanciavalleycatholicch.org, 1400 3rd Street S., Moriarty, N.M., 87035.