Josi Kay Larsen

Josi was born in Sheridan, Wyoming, just east of the Big Horn Mountains, to Nancy G. and Joseph A. Bolin. Her father worked for the Wyoming DOT and after several moves the family settled in Gillette, a coal and oil town on the prairies of eastern Wyoming. It was here she went through elementary and high school. Josi always referred to the town unlovingly as “Gullette,” and she knew from an early age that being a cowgirl was not for her. At age18 she struck out on her own, moving to Billings, Montana, for better job opportunities. She began a career working for Video Trend, traveling around the western United States to successfully open numerous video stores. In the late 1980s she moved to Seattle and went to work for Ingram Entertainment, selling movies to video stores. She was good at her job, winning many sales prizes, among them a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida with her daughter Grace and future husband Randy. Josi’s daughter, Grace Patricia Zigweid, was the joy of her life.

In 1998 Josi, Grace, and their various beloved dogs, cats and a parrot all moved to a new home in Milton, Washington, that turned out to be just across the street from Randy Larsen. When Randy moseyed over to a Josi-run yard sale he was turned away with, “Sorry, the sale is over.” That did not deter Randy. The two were married in 2000 at Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park. In 2001 Josi went to work for the Fife School District, first in the after school program, next with special education children, and finally in the English Language Learners program. Josi retired from the school district in 2021 to care for her mother Nancy who was facing difficult health issues.

The Larsen family, Nancy, and their furry friends moved to Trilogy near Bonney Lake in 2021. Here Josi discovered pickleball. She was the 2022 mixed tournament pickleball women's champion with a medal to prove it, and a star at Mexican train dominos, Rumikub, Bunco, and water aerobics. There were some bumps in her athletic career. An impulsive cross-country bicycle jaunt didn't go as planned, and a tumble led to a broken ankle.

Josi was at her happiest with dirt under her fingernails. She loved gardening and turned the back yards of her homes into mini-Butchart gardens. She began crafting with friend and  fellow school employee Lorene, dreaming up projects and selling them at local craft shows. Josi could never resist a yard sale or adding to her antique collections, and many of the treasures she found were reborn as pieces of her creative art. The workshops she set up in her homes were filled with her latest ventures. She decorated for every holiday and gladly hosted all the extended family celebrations. Her happy places were any time spent with Grace, visits to the ocean, trips to Las Vegas, and cruising the world with Randy. She loved driving her Mustang, a reminder of the much-loved, rescued Mustang that was her first car. She collected friends easily from all parts of her life, and had the uncanny ability to uncover in record time the life story of the person standing next to her in the check-out line. She never did anything half-heartedly. She was always all-in, and she faced her cancer diagnosis with a clear-eyed strength and toughness that was pure Josi.

There will be a celebration of Josi’s life on March 26 at 2 PM.  It will be held at Farm 12 restaurant and event center in Puyallup.  All friends are invited to come and spend time with family and share their memories of Josi.

Josi was pre-deceased by her father and her sister, Julieann Craig Matuska.

She is survived by her husband Randy, her daughter Grace, and her mother Nancy. She is also survived by her Aunt Shirley Yager and husband Jim, cousins Amy and Chris Yager, nephew Darin Craig and wife Luz, and their four children.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made in Josi's name to the American Cancer Society, Thank you