Zelda M. Joseph

1917 - 2022

Zelda M. Joseph
August 22, 1917 - March 16, 2022
O'Fallon, Illinois - Zelda Mathilda Joseph (nee Peters) of O'Fallon IL, who was born August 22, 1917, in New Baden, IL, passed away on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at Mercy Rehab and Care Center in Swansea, IL.
Zelda was 104 years of age. She experienced Country School, the Hoover Era, the Great Depression, WWII, the Korean, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan Wars, and two pandemics.
After marrying her husband, Clifton F. Joseph in 1935, Zelda was a homemaker and caregiver for her family and elderly parents. She was a superb housekeeper and always neat and well organized. Zelda served as O'Fallon Township Tax Assessor after her husband's death in 1975 and assisted her daughter as an "at home" teacher's aide from 1997-2009. She also assisted her husband keeping personal tax assessing records for over 25 years.
Zelda was honest, "mentally tough", smart, responsible, resilient, and a hard worker, but had no hobbies because she never did have time. After her husband's death, her life centered around house maintenance, a few friends with whom she danced and played cards, and her daughter and son-in-law and their pet dogs.
Zelda was preceded in death by her parents, Oscar and Anna Peters (nee Schmitt); her beloved husband, Clifton F. Joseph; her sister, Fern Bellm; and her nephews, Denis Bellm and David Thomas.
Zelda is survived by her only child, JoAnn J. (Ronald W.) Fisher of O'Fallon, IL; two nieces, Sharon Timmermann of St. Louis, MO and Susan Finkelman of Austin, TX; and two nephews, Bruce Bellm of Highland, IL, and John (Linda) Thomas of Glendale, MO.
Zelda was a member of the O'Fallon Senior Citizens. Memorials may be sent to O'Fallon Senior Citizens. Condolences may be made to the family at www.schildknechtfh.com.
A visitation will be held on Monday, March 21, 2022, from 11:00 PM - 1:00 PM at Schildknecht Funeral Home, 301 S. Lincoln Ave., O'Fallon, IL. 62269
Funeral Services will take place on Mon., March 21, 2022, at 1:00 PM at Schildknecht Funeral Home, 301 S. Lincoln Ave., O'Fallon, IL. Burial will follow at College Hill Cemetery in Lebanon, IL.
The family is requesting masking and social distancing be practiced.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Schildknecht Funeral Home.