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Josefita “Josie” Gallegos Hyre, 1928-2003

Former Hayden resident Josie Gallegos Hyre died Oct. 28, 2003, in Grand Junction after a brief illness. She was 75.

Josie was born June 5, 1928, in Walsenberg to Julian and Amalia Gallegos. She was one of 16 children.

Josie attended school in Cameo, Mt. Harris and Hayden before graduating from Grand Junction High School.



She married Hoy “Bill” Hyre on Oct. 25, 1947, in Idaho Springs. The couple established a home in Grand Junction.

Josie worked at the Grand Junction Credit Bureau and was a medical secretary for E.H. and Gordon Monroe until 1966, when her husband relocated to Salt Lake City with Pacific Fruit and Produce.



In 1966, Josie began her career with the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service at the Ogden Service Center. During her 30-year tenure with the IRS, Josie was selected for one of 13 management positions to open the Processing Service Center in Fresno, Calif.

Josie also worked in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Holtsville, N.Y., before retiring in 1990.

After returning to Grand Junction in 1990, she became a bilingual literacy tutor with the Mesa County Library and later with Mesa County Public Schools.

She volunteered her time to assist senior citizens in preparing tax returns in Mesa County. She was a member of the Tiara Rado and Lincoln Park Ladies Golf Association, and she bowled with the Grand Junction Transplants.

Josie was preceded in death by her parents, Amalia and Julian Gallegos; her brothers, Jose Ubaldo, Eugenio, Florentino I, Florentino II, Herman, Valentin and Sam; her sister, Otelia; her daughter, Maria Elena; her son, Michael Allan; and her husband, Bill.

She is survived by her children, William Reed Hyre of Yelm, Wash., and Judith Annette Fisher of Seagoville, Texas; four grandchildren, Shannon Hyre of Shelton, Wash., Erinn Hyre of Seattle, Wash., Michelle Hooper of Grand Junction and Morgan Fisher of Seagoville, Texas; her sisters, Edemia Rooks, Eva Fruit and Sara Nolan, all of Grand Junction, Stella Rice of Carbondale, Ill., Marye Lucero of Hesperus, Melia Lewis of Jacksonville, Fla., and Barbara Castillo of West Valley, Utah; her brothers, Gene of Clovis, Calif., Walt and Dave of Albuquerque, N.M., Joe of Meridian, Idaho, Roy of Santa Fe, N.M., and Gary of Grand Junction; and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial service was held Saturday at Callahan-Edfast Mortuary in Grand Junction.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado, P.O. Box 60307, Grand Junction, CO 81506.


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