School honors WWII code breaker
Frances S. Suddeth Josephson
By Mimi M.Maddock

(l- r) James Suddeth Jr., James Suddeth IV, and James Suddeth III cut the ribbon for the dedication of the Frances S. Suddeth Josephson Liberty Garden at Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, S.C.

Four- year- old James Suddeth IV of Columbia cut the ribbon January 13, 2008, for the dedication of a garden in honor of his great grandmother, the late Frances S. Suddeth Josephson, a WWII hero.

In 1942, Josephson began her training to become a WWII code breaker at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. After graduation, she accepted a Navy commission to the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services).

Josephson never told anyone she was a WWII code breaker from 1942- 45, not even her husband or her son. She was told if she said anything to anyone, she would be shot. She took that command seriously.

Captain James Kenney of the Military Order of the World Wars helped break the silence when he unsuccessfully tried to gain recognition for the code breakers. Josephson told Kenney her team had broken the Japanese code giving forces information to find and shoot down the airplane carrying Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the man who orchestrated the Pearl Harbor attack.

Naval officer Frances S. Suddeth (Josephson)

After the war, Josephson moved to Summerville with her first husband, James Suddeth. They had two children, James Jr. (Jed) and Toy. Jed is co- owner of First Carolina Insurance with offices in Columbia

and Charleston. Toy predeceased her mother. Josephson's two grandchildren are James Suddeth III and Meghan A. Suddeth. Her great grandchildren are James Suddeth IV and Constance Leigh Suddeth. All grew up in Columbia.

Josephson lived a full life as a WAVE, Navy wife, mother, a fashion model, and as an accomplished artist. She maintained interest in the Citadel Navy cadet program, designed the Summerville War Memorial, was a patriot who cherished freedom, worked with the Gibbes Women's Council and was a member of St. Paul's Church in Summerville.

Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, S.C. honored Josephson with the opening of the Frances S. Suddeth Josephson Liberty Garden. The garden will contain the

busts of leading world figures who have contributed to our freedom including Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and Albert Einstein. Before the ribbon cutting was a power point presentation of Josephson's life and remarks by friends who knew her and students from Pinewood Preparatory School. A concert was given by the Summerville Community Orchestra. Rev. Becky Coerper gave the blessing of the Frances S. Suddeth Josephson garden.