1921
2011
JOSEPHINE ALMA MEEKER
1921 - 2011
Josephine Meeker was born at a ranch house near Old School Road in Feb. of 1921. She was
the fifth of seven children. She grew up in the Fall River valley. When she was in grade school
the family moved to Lakeview Oregon where she attended high school. Her father worked
many different types of jobs. He worked as a freight hauler with a team of horses bring
supplies into the valley. Later he worked in lumber camps. Jo spent the summer months with
her parents then went to live with her older sisters Lois Breazeale and Marval Hudson. When
she was about 16 her parents moved to Adin and she worked for the Fall River Hotel as a
waitress. She met John there and he waited until she was 18 to ask her father for her hand.
After they were married they moved to Pit 3. John worked for PG & E. They moved to
Montgomery Creek and lived in a small cabin next to the creek, just upstream of the 299 bridge.
Jo enjoyed fishing in the Pit River near their house. Jo always regretted that she did not
graduate from high school so she took a correspondence course to earn her GED in the early
50's. Along came Norman and they moved to Fall River Mills and lived on Mechanic Street for a
time. They also lived in a little cabin that was south ofthe hardware store
John was still with PG&E until 1946 when they built Meeker's Service station and worked that
business for over 35 years. The business was open 24 hours a day for the first 2 years as there
was never a lock on the front door or the fuel pumps. Jo kept the books, ran the gas pumps,
collected the money, ordered parts and kept the inventory. The only thing she didn't do was
work on the vehicles. She left that to John.
In 1951 they bought a new ford pickup and that winter as Jo was going back to the house on
Mechanic's street and she slid into a fire plug and ripped a hole in the rear fender. She was
afraid to tell john about it, but he found out as someone told him at the station.
Jo wanted Norm to go to college so she talked John into building the Bull Dog Bite in McArthur.
They had a contest to name the frosty. Eldred Highly had the winning entry and so the Bulldog
Bite came into existence. The family worked in both businesses. John would work at the
station while Jo worked in the frosty. On game nights they worked until 1 am serving
customers, then cleaning up. She operated it until 1964 when it was sold. She returned to
work at the station then.
John and Jo liked to support the community. John sponsored a belt buckle for the all-around
cowboy at the rodeo for many years. They took out ads in the yearbooks for both businesses.
Jo could not turn down a child selling candy or something for school. She enjoyed children.
Jo liked to get away from the phones and get John to rest by planning camping trips to many
reserviours and streams. They traveled to the world's fair in Seattle Wa, to Montana to hunt
with John's brother Jim, to The Dakotas to see Mt Rushmore and Deadwood and after they
retired in 1979 to Alaska with their good friends Elda and Otto Vogt. They met Art Morgan and
his son Bill when Norm was a senior in high school. Art interested them in steelhead fishing and
Jo and John went to the Smith River for many years enjoying the company of the fishermen
who they met there. They both enjoyed fishing very much.
After John became ill, Jo took care of him for 8 years never leaving his side. Since he passed
away she has joined a card playing group and enjoyed the companion ship of the players and
the weekly games very much.
Jo kept in touch with her family and went to as many family reunions, anniversaries, birthdays
and celebrations as they had time for. She loved her sisters and brothers very much and
mourned their passing. She tried to keep tabs on her nieces and nephews by phone after their
parents passed.
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