Storke Funeral Home Obituaries

Louise Josephine “Jo” Harris Townsend (age 91), of Colonial Beach Va, died peacefully at her home on Saturday, April 6, 2024.  She was born on her Grandfather’s farm near Mattox Creek, and had a deep personal connection with the Oak Grove community. She was an active member of Oak Grove Baptist Church in her young life; and graduated from Oak Grove High School in 1950 – where she was an excellent student and a good athlete.

She worked as a secretary at the Naval Weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren, Virginia for a number of years. In her thirties (with five children – the two youngest not yet in school), she decided to pursue her degree in Education from Mary Washington College, and later received a Master’s in Elementary Education from the University of Virginia.  After one year at Oak Grove, she taught in the Colonial Beach School system where she was an exceptional and beloved teacher for more than thirty years.  She also sold real estate, earning a reputation as an honest and hard-working realtor over a forty-plus year career in the Colonial Beach area.  She and her husband, George Townsend (himself a well-known, lifelong resident of Colonial Beach) collaborated in her real estate efforts, and were also the proprietors of an antique store in the Beach for many years.

From early childhood she had an active and curious mind, was a compulsive reader, and had a great interest in learning.  She found her life’s work in teaching Social Studies and Virginia History to generations of fourth graders in our Town. She had a special talent for connecting with her students that brought out the best in them, and inspired them to think creatively.  She shared her excitement about exploring our History as Americans (and as Virginians from the Northern Neck), and made learning about it a fun, contact proposition. She could also be tough, but she treated every child with respect, and took a particular interest in children who needed extra encouragement. And her students (and colleagues) all respected and loved her for it!

She was known for being independent, a bright and original thinker, and for speaking her mind.  She absolutely loved to work, and approached life at a run – continuing to drive and tackle projects with relentless energy and skill into her nineties. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, and the devoted matriarch of a large, and still growing family. She and her family took pride in the Town of Colonial Beach, and cherished its small independent school system. She wouldn’t have lived anywhere else.

She maintained her independence and dignity to the last. She had made surviving Hodgkins Lymphoma in her eighties look easy, and pushed herself to recover quickly from her early Corona Virus exposure.  And because she was so strong willed, and strong in her person and faith, she was able to continue to live in her own home, while regularly spending time there with all of her five children over the months of her last illness. Near the end she told us that she had a wonderful life; that she wouldn’t change any of it -the good or the bad; and she said that she was thankful that God had given her a lot of good work to do. She was a unique and amazing human being, and she will be greatly missed.

She was predeceased by her husband of forty-two years, George W. Townsend; her mother, Louise Groves Fisher; her father, Joseph Thomas Harris; and a brother, Donald Wayne Fisher.  She is survived by her five children:  James Allen Powell, Jr, Michael W. Powell (Debbie), Nancy L. Cokinos (Danny), George W. Townsend, III (Bonny), and Robert K. Townsend (Caitlin); twelve  grandchildren:  Luke Powell (Carolyn), Cara Derricott (Andrae), Jeff Powell (Austin), Andrew Powell (Jenna), Joelle Fumai (Scott), Allie Lianos (Costa), Will Townsend, Rob Townsend, Josie Townsend, John Walker Townsend, James Townsend, and Rowan Townsend; and ten great-grandsons and 1 great-granddaughter. She is also survived by a beloved sister, Nancy Harris Edelen.

A memorial service will be held at the Colonial Beach Baptist Church on Thursday, May 2, 2024, with visitation at the Church at 1:00 p.m.; memorial service at 2:00 p.m.; and a reception to follow at the Church fellowship hall. Interment will be private.

The family requests that memorials be made to: the Louise “Jo” Townsend Memorial Scholarship fund, c/o George W. Townsend, III, P.C. P.O. Box 1147, Montross, Va 22520.