Josephine "Josie" Aurelia Trujillo (Arellano), age 92, a resident of Las Cruces for over 55 years, passed away at home, January 09, 2018 surrounded by family. Josephine was a loving daughter, sister, devoted wife, loving mother, and trusted friend. She is survived by her children; five daughters, Margaret Franklin and husband, Richard of Santa Clarita, CA, Arthie Jo Shuman and husband, Alan of Santa Fe, Elaine L. de Trujillo and husband Gary Slater of Las Cruces, Geraldine J. Garcia and husband, Tony, of Albuquerque, and Trish Soybel and husband, Josh of Katy, Texas; two sons, Arthur E. Trujillo, Jr. and wife, Leticia of Las Cruces, and James K. Trujillo and Rashmi Pappu of Alexandria VA; fourteen grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; one sister, Irene Hernandez of Lubbock TX. Mrs. Trujillo was preceded in death by 8 of her 9 brothers and sisters and her husband of fifty-four years, Arthur Trujillo, Sr.

Mrs. Trujillo was born in 1925 in Springer, New Mexico. From 1942 to 1948, to help support her mother who had been widowed in 1929, she became a Telegraph Telephone Operator for the Santa Fe Railroad. She learned Morse Code and helped ensure the troop trains were given priority during the war effort. Often, Josie worked 7 days a week at small train depots across New Mexico in places like Watross, Cerillos, Bernalillo, Timpas, Chapelle, and Tiffany.

It was at Chappelle, NM, in 1945 she met a handsome sailor coming home from the war. They were married and started a family. Josie became a full-time mother and her husband then began working for the Santa Fe Railroad. They lived for several years in Socorro, then T or C, then Hatch, and finally making Las Cruces their home in the early 1960's. For a few years in the late 1970's, Josie worked at Galleria de las Artes in Old Mesilla and, in the early 1980's, at NMSU PSL at WSMR as a keypunch operator. In her retirement years, you could find her with a good book, as she was a voracious reader. She loved all her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren dearly and wanted them all to earn an education and be resilient and self-assured like she was.

At Josephine's request, cremation will take place and no services will be held locally. At a later date, likely July, interment will take place at Santa Fe National Cemetery where she will join her husband Arthur, Sr.. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the of New Mexico, 525 San Pedro NE, Suite 101, Albuquerque NM, 87108. Condolences can be sent to www.GetzCares.com. Josephine was a diabetic for over 50 years and the family would like to thank Dr. Ann Mercer, and her office staff, for taking such great care of her for the past 30 years. The family would also like to thank Mesilla Valley Hospice, Mountain View Regional Medical Center, HomeKare of Dona Ana, Home Instead, and the staff who cared for and showed compassion to Josephine during her last few months.
Arrangements are with Getz Funeral Home 1410 E. Bowman Ave., Las Cruces NM 88001. Please visit www.GetzCares.com to sign the local online guest book.
Published in Las Cruces Sun-News on Jan. 12, 2018