Hubert Laurie Josey Jr 24 Aug 1925 - 27 Apr 2020

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Hubert Laurie Josey (Chapin, South Carolina), who passed away on April 27, 2020. He was the widower of Roberta Simmons Josey. A memorial Service will be announced by Dukes-Harley Funeral Home

Hubert Laurie Josey 24 Aug 1925 - 27 Apr 2020

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Hubert Laurie Josey (Chapin, South Carolina), who passed away on April 27, 2020. He was the widower of Roberta S Josey. A memorial Service will be announced by Dukes-Harley Funeral Home He was the widower of Roberta S. Josey. A Memorial Service will be announced by Dukes-Harley Funeral Home at a lat

Hubert “Bert” Laurie Josey, Jr., 94, of Lexington, SC, passed away April 27, 2020. He was the widower of Roberta Simmons Josey.

Due to revised COVID-19 rules, the Memorial Service will now be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, May 30, 2020, at Dukes-Harley Funeral Home and Crematory, 3379 Columbia Road, Orangeburg, SC. A Graveside Service will follow in Sunnyside Cemetery, 626 Summers Avenue, Orangeburg.

Bert was born in Orangeburg, SC, the son of Hubert Laurie Josey, Sr. and Margaret Carolyn Boineau. He was a 1942 graduate of Orangeburg High School. He volunteered for the Army Air Forces in September, 1943 and began Cadet training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC. Bert was eventually sent to England as an aerial Gunner with the Mighty 8th Air Force. Upon his arrival, he was assigned to the 860th squadron and the 493rd bomb group near Ipswich. Over the next six months Bert flew in twenty-five missions over Europe as a gunner on multiple B-17’s. In April 1945 Bert returned to the U.S. and was stationed at Randolph Field near San Antonio where he was honorably discharged in November making plans to take advantage of the GI Bill.

In January 1946, Bert entered the Citadel from where he graduated in 1950 with a degree in Civil Engineering. After graduation, he took a job with the Inter American Geodetic Survey Society. Bert arrived in Panama in May 1950 and finished his assignment in May 1952 after surveying in Colombia and Haiti. These two years completed Bert’s military obligation in lieu of serving in the Korean War. For years afterward, Bert talked about writing his “now famous” book, entitled, Two Years on My Ass, which expands upon his time surveying in the jungle and the life adventures “a Citadel man from Orangeburg, SC”.

Bert returned home in June of 1952 where he married the love of his life, Roberta Simmons. Bert first worked at Sloan Construction Company, in Greenville, SC; then, after his marriage to Roberta in June 1954, he joined Southern Railway Company in Greensboro, NC. In 1957 Bert accepted an entrepreneurship opportunity with Executone Communications Systems for a franchise covering Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC. After thirty years, Bert retired in 1986 with offices and warehouses in both cities and over 45 employees.

Bert and “Berta” lived in Savannah for 45 years and raised their daughters there; the girls graduated from Savannah Country Day School where Roberta taught for many years. They spent their last 25 years in Savannah at their home on the Forest River. While in Savannah, they were members of White Bluff United Methodist Church.

In 2002, they moved to Lake Murray near Irmo, SC and were members of Union United Methodist. While Bert and Roberta spent almost 15 years enjoying their home on Lake Murray, they spent their last years together at the Lowman Home in Chapin, SC. Following Roberta’s passing in January 2019, Bert spent his last year in Lexington, SC at Deepwood Estates.　

Survivors include three daughters, Laurie Josey Butler (Bill), Redona Josey Wood (Taber), and Angela Josey Bledsoe (Adair); two brothers-in-law, Horace Simmons (Lib) and Colin Simmons (Nancy); and seven grandchildren: Josey Butler Butcher (Brian), Will Butler (Emily), Rachael Wood Dickenson (Wyll), Walker Wood, Taber Wood, Lee Bledsoe, Anna Capers Bledsoe and one great grandchild, Luke Patterson Butcher. Bert was predeceased by a sister, Carolyn Josey Benton of Richmond Hill, GA.

Bert would say that these three verses have been life-sustaining:

Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
John 10:10 – “Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Psalms 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.” Or as Bert said, “Let go and let God.”

Bert and Roberta were truly blessed with incredible family, friends, and adventures in their long lives together. They blessed their daughters and family and friends with laughter and love the best way they knew how.

He was the widower of Roberta S. Josey. A Memorial Service will be announced by Dukes-Harley Funeral Home at a lat