IN the sleepy towns and villages of rural Co Down in the early 1940s, the arrival of US troops was a sensation.
For those fortunate not to be directly affected by German bombing raids, the war years had been a grey, austere time of rationing and restrictions.
But when the American GIs first began disembarking in 1942, they seemed to bring with them all the colour, noise and glamour of their homeland.
Josephine O'Leary was an attractive, vivacious young woman already captivated by Big Band music and brimming with life's possibilities.
Born in 1924 in Newry, one of eight children to John and Brigid Hudson, her father was a pharmacist who had moved the family to Kilkeel when she was young.
Josephine enjoyed a happy childhood in their large old house with its big garden and as a pupil at St Louis Convent Grammar School her fun-loving, outgoing nature endeared her to everyone she met.
She enjoyed singing and walking in the Mournes and would sometimes be asked by the school's religious sisters to accompany them on journeys, at a time when they were not permitted to travel alone.
This life would be turned upside down when a neighbour of the Hudsons, Arthur Doran, became friendly with a young US Army sergeant based at Ballyedmond.
Jeremiah O'Leary was searching for some Hudsons who were related to a friend back home and Arthur duly introduced him to Josephine and her family in Kilkeel.
Romance quickly blossomed and before long Jeremiah had asked if Josephine would marry him when the war was over.
An anxious, prayerful time followed when he was sent with the 5th Infantry Division to France, but he survived with only a leg injury which saw him sent home decorated with a Purple Heart.
Josephine was employed during these years as a switchboard operator at the Langford Lodge and Greencastle air force bases.
In May 1946 her older brother Pat then left her to Shannon Airport to fulfil her promise to travel to New York and she and Jeremiah were married within a month of her arrival.
Josephine would work as a teacher's aide and public health assistant in numerous Staten Island schools, as well as volunteering at a local nursing home.
She was a dedicated member of the congregation at St Ann's Church and enjoyed reading, writing, quilting, knitting and the outdoors.
As a long-serving member of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians she was named Aide to the St Patrick's Day parade Grand Marshall Robert Connelly in 1995.
She was also a member of the Ladies of Charity, the Rosary Society, the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, and the Nocturnal Adoration of St Ann's.
Joesphine and Jeremiah were blessed with five children, Jeremiah Jr, Patrick, Mary, Anne and John.
In the early 1960s, when her father fell ill, Josephine took her three youngest children on a visit back to Kilkeel, the beginning of a close relationship down the years between the families.
She brought many of her grandchildren to see Ireland and she and her husband were also regular visitors.
Her devout faith helped her endure the worry of both older sons serving in Vietnam, as well as the loss of her daughter Anne on Christmas Day 1984 following a long battle with kidney disease, having been donated a kidney by her father.
Jeremiah passed away in June 2010 after 64 loving years of marriage.
Josephine died aged 96 on March 27 this year, one of the last of the many Irish 'war brides' of the 1940s.
Her family in America said she was their "matriarch".
"She guided, comforted, advised and nurtured the entire family through her humble and compassionate examples of how life should be lived and how people should be treated.
"Josephine will always be known for her devout faith, her carefree and adventurous youth, and her love of nature.
"Most of all, Josephine will be remembered for her love and devotion to family, especially her 12 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren."
Josephine is also survived by two sisters, Catherine and Dympna Hudson, who still live in their childhood home in Kilkeel.
