Frances Steen Suddeth Josephson grew up in Baltimore. She became a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma while attending Goucher College where she was a biology major. Her goal was to become a doctor.
Dorothy Stinson, the president of Goucher, was the cousin of Henry Stinson, the United States Secretary of War. That connection was the impetus for some extremely bright Goucher women being recruited as clandestine cryptographers, “codebreakers.” The work she did was her secret until 1992, when the U.S. government finally declassified the project. Her first husband never knew about her codebreaking career because he died before she was able to discuss it.
After her graduation from Goucher in June 1942, she was one of the first WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service). She was commissioned as an Ensign in August 1942. In an article in The Key of Kappa Kappa Gamma, she stated that the work she and her fellow codebreakers did helped bring the war to a quicker close.
She worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift as she took part in race to decode the German’s Enigma machine. The work they undertook directly contributed to the Allies’ European victory. Decoding the Japanese code was much harder, and it touched her personally. Her brother, Commander Egil Steen, was a U.S. Navy captain. He commanded a ship which she learned was to be attacked, according to a Japanese code which was intercepted. There was nothing the Navy could do to avoid the kamikaze attack. While almost all of the crew were killed, Commander Steen survived the attack.
On November 20, 1944, she married Naval Air Commander James H. Suddeth in the St. Andrew’s Chapel at the United States Naval Academy chapel in Annapolis. Her husband was a Phi Kappa Tau, a graduate of Georgia Tech. Captain William N. Thomas, the academy chaplain, officiated. The bride wore an ivory satin gown and a veil which her mother had worn years before at her own wedding. The bride carried a bouquet of orchids and gardenias. A reception took place at the Officers’ club in Annapolis.
James Suddeth died on September 1, 1960, when he was struck by lightning on a Summerville, South Carolina, golf course. She married Captain H. Carl Josephson in 1962.
Frances Josephson was multitalented. She was an active volunteer and an accomplished artist. She also modelled at stores and taught charm and poise to high schoolers.
In 2004, Josephson was honored by the Navy Cryptologic Veterans Association. Her son, James “Jed” Suddeth, Jr., had served in the U.S. Naval submarine force and offered this tribute: “As an American citizen, with all the freedoms we have, I thank you; as a fellow naval officer, I salute you; and as a son, I love you.”
She died on June 9, 2007, at the age of 86.
