Josephine G. Ussler

Josephine (Gravel) Ussler, 92, of Kirkland Village, Bethlehem PA, wife of the late William Ussler Jr., died December 10, 2018 at Kirkland Village, Bethlehem.

Born in Harrisburg, PA, she was a daughter of the late Aurthur C. Gravel and the late Mabel (Cox) Gravel.

Josephine attended Drexel Institute of Technology to learn drafting and assisted the war effort as a draughtswoman at the Frankford Arsenal during WWII. After the war effort ended, she worked at University of Pennsylvanias Moore School of Electrical Engineering as a draftswoman working on drawings for the design and programming of the ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer designed and built for the US Army. The people who built and programmed ENIACs hardware were predominantly women. The machines development “was a remarkable collaborative effort, from the support in funding, materials, and expertise provided by Penn and military authorities to all the workers directly involved in the project. They did their job well in challenging times. And even without superpowers, they changed the world - all of them, even the secretary and the draftswomen and those women whose names we have forgotten.”

Josephine was a talented artist, silversmith, skilled at all the fiber arts, and willing and able to master many skills from furniture refinishing and upholstery, tile setting, to milking cows.

She will be lovingly remembered by her sons, William Ussler III and his wife Cecil of Royal Oaks, CA and Steven L. Ussler of East Coventry Twp.; daughter, Christine E. Ussler and her husband Alex Schwarz of Bethlehem; granddaughter Susan Ussler of CA; and step-grandson Ian Frenkel of CT.

Visitation will be held on Saturday, December 15, 2018 from 10-10:30 a.m. at Connell Funeral Home, 245 E. Broad St. Bethlehem, PA 18018. A funeral service will follow at 10:30 a.m. in the funeral home. Burial will be private.

Contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to "Camp Hill Village Kimberton Hills", P.O. Box 1045, Kimberton, PA 19442.

Private Burial
Saturday, December 15, 2018

Connell Funeral Home, Inc.
245 East Broad St.
Bethlehem PA 18018
US
610-868-8531

Visitation
Saturday, December 15, 2018
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Connell Funeral Home, Inc.
245 East Broad St.
Bethlehem PA 18018
US
610-868-8531

Funeral Service
Saturday, December 15, 2018
10:30 AM
Connell Funeral Home, Inc.
245 East Broad St.
Bethlehem PA 18018
US
610-868-8531

Funeral HomeConnell Funeral Home, Inc.
245 East Broad St.
Bethlehem PA - 18018
US
610-868-8531