MILLENNIUM MOMENT

The composer and musician Joe “Country” Washburne lived in a home on

Balboa Island for much of his life with his wife, Jeanie.

Washburne was the composer of “One Dozen Roses,” a song that topped the

Hit Parade charts in the early 1940s, as well as the tune “Oh Mona.” He

played with a number of radio network bands in the 1930s on the extremely

popular Fibber McGee and Molly and the Great Gildersleeve shows.

In the ‘60s, Washburne had his own band, which played on a radio show

hosted by Curt Massey.

Washburne passed away in 1974.

* MILLENNIUM MOMENT celebrates the people who have made a major

contribution to the Newport-Mesa community during this century.