Josephine Wilkinson Potter, age 94, of Aurora, Colorado, passed away on Sunday, June 16, 2024. She was born on November 27, 1929, the daughter of Oscar Wilkinson, Sr., and Fannie Lou (Castleberry) Wilkinson, in Crenshaw County, Alabama. She attended school in Covington County, Alabama, and Okaloosa County, Florida. She married James Thomas Potter in 1957. Josephine spent the first nineteen years of her life in Alabama, seventy-two years in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and in November 2021, she relocated to Aurora, Colorado to be with her family.

Josephine was an active member of Beulah First Baptist Church (Beulah), Fort Walton Beach, Florida where she taught Young Adult Sunday School classes, led the Women’s Mission, serving those in the church and community who were in need. She served as a speaker at Beulah on special occasions and represented Beulah as guest speaker throughout Okaloosa and Washington Counties. Josephine was on the board of American Cancer Society and had a personal mission to help those in need in her community and in surrounding cities. She enjoyed gardening, decorating, fashions, and traveling to Colorado to visit her family when possible.

As for careers, Josephine held retail and other positions. However, the position as Police Officer in Fort Walton Beach, Florida was the one position most spoken of from 1964 to 1999 and after. She completed her police training at Okaloosa Walton Junior College and was the first female to be placed in such position.

Josephine was preceded in death by her parents, husband, eleven siblings and three stepchildren. We must add that she loved to dance and danced periodically up to her death. She leaves behind her daughter, Vivian Potter Mount, Aurora, Colorado; granddaughter, Tasha V. Mount, Arlington, Virginia, and sister, Gussie Calvert-Walker, Denver, Colorado. Additionally, she leaves many step grandchildren, step great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and many friends.