Janet Joseph Obituary

Janet Padgett Joseph, 88, of Kailua, Hawaii, died in her home on Aug. 16, 2020. She was born Nov. 20, 1931, in Greenleaf, Kansas, the daughter of Beryl (Beaty) Padgett and Sherman Harley Padgett. She married Richard Bruce Joseph "Bruce" on Sept. 19, 1952, in the University of Kansas campus chapel in Lawrence, Kansas. 88, of Kailua, Hawaii, died in her home on Aug. 16, 2020. She was born Nov. 20, 1931, in Greenleaf, Kansas, the daughter of Beryl (Beaty) Padgett and Sherman Harley Padgett. She married Richard Bruce Joseph "Bruce" on Sept. 19, 1952, in the University of Kansas campus chapel in Lawrence, Kansas. Immediately after the wedding ceremony Janet and Bruce took a train to New York and boarded the "Queen Mary" and sailed to Europe to spend a year in France on Bruce's Fulbright scholarship. When they returned, Janet finished her classes at KU and graduated class of '53, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

They moved to Hawaii in 1956 as Bruce took internship at Tripler Army Hospital in the territory of Hawaii and never looked back. Janet was active in Junior League and still is remembered as a most excellent Rumpelstiltskin in the production performed for various elementary schools. She developed narcolepsy with cataplexy in her early 20s, which was a lifelong battle; however for this, and anything else, she seriously never complained about personal ailments. She became an avid tennis player, winning many events as attested to by the shelves full of trophy bowls stored in her kitchen cupboards. She was an excellent mother who patiently shared her love of the sport to both of her children. Janet was full of love and was always the life of any party.

Janet is survived by her children, Kimberly Joseph Zilis and Gary Allen Joseph; their spouses Paul Zilis and Yunah (Lee) Joseph; three grandchildren Gregory and David Zilis and Kailee Joseph; as well as her brother Gary Padgett and his wife Sue (Summerville) Padgett. Janet was preceded in death by her husband Bruce Joseph on May 7, 2017, and her brother George Padgett on July 24, 1999.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Hawaiian Humane Society.