Josephine Rivero

Josephine Smyth Rivero

Josephine Smyth Rivero died peacefully at home, surrounded by three generations of loving family – on May 4, 2019. Adored "Mom" to Margaret Early, Marcia Bourne, Josephine Rivero-Beck, Philomena Mangan, Mark Rivero, Jr. (deceased), Therese Rivero-Sapp, Wendy Brennan, Elaine O'Rourke, Bridget Rivero and their families. Josephine was born on March 10, 1927 in Athy, Kildare, Ireland. She was raised in Galway City, where she received an excellent comprehensive education from the Sisters of Mercy. From an early age, Josie knew she would live in California. She made it happen, and in 1946 at age nineteen, she and her sister Mary left Galway for San Francisco's Sunset District, and the home of their aunt Jo Boden. Through the Bodens, Josie met Mark Rivero – the handsome youngest son of a popular local family. The two began dating, and Josie soon went native. They married on Halloween in 1947 at St. Anne of the Sunset Church.
Josie and Mark shared sixty-three years together, raising their family in typical Catholic San Francisco fashion. Mark often worked two jobs, while Josie was busy with the children and house on Lawton Street. Life was packed with family and parish activities, including Pre-Cana Conference, Cub Scout Den-mother duties, chaperoning teen-club dances, and driving everyone's kids all over the City for the entirety of the '60s and '70s. Weekends and summers at Camp Meeker enriched the family's life, and many happy memories were made there. Both the house on Lawton Street and the place in the country were often over-flowing with the friends of her children, as well as relatives from both sides of the family and friends from work and the parish.
Josie loved nature, and passed on an appreciation of the beauty of God's creation – often stopping to admire a sunset or starry sky. She loved the ocean. She spent countless happy hours gardening, which was just one of her hobbies / skills. She was a master seamstress who produced an array of beautiful, stylish clothes. From eight coordinated Easter outfits annually, to first-communion, prom and wedding dresses – Josie was a whirlwind of productivity. She could also knit circles around the best of them. She made intricate, on-trend sweaters, only occasionally having to look at the yarn and needles, instead feeling the patterns with her preternaturally deft fingers. Josie loved to sing, and never missed an opportunity to do so. She enjoyed her participation in various choral groups over the years. At the age of eighty-six, she sang "El Paso" to a bar full of new friends in Ireland. On that trip, she walked an average of ten miles per day. Josie always loved exercise. She was teased by her children about her living-room calisthenics, but she had the last laugh, remaining enviably trim and fit. Her life was filled with love and joy, but she endured her share of heartache. She faced tragedy with courage, and was an unstinting source of support for so many. She had a gift for making and keeping friends. Josie was grateful for the love and companionship of her seventeen grandchildren and twenty-three great-grandchildren. They made her so proud, and always kept her laughing.
Josie was brilliant, funny, and generous to a fault. She had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and was a voracious reader and a solver of crossword puzzles. She had a down-to-earth glamour, a great sense of style, and a charisma that was hard to resist. She was ahead of her time, too smart for her own good, and will be lovingly remembered by all who were lucky enough to have known her.
A celebration of Josie's life will be held on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at 11:00AM at St. Anne of the Sunset Church.