Jessie Wilhite Wilson, 90, of Vancouver, Washington, and formerly of Virginia, Illinois, died Nov. 22 of Parkinson’s Disease.  
    Jessie was born in Virginia to Verna Rahn Wilhite and Jesse Wilhite. As a girl, she enjoyed riding with her father on his route collecting chickens and cream from local farmers.
    After high school, she graduated from business school and became a secretary working at the business office of MacMurray College in Jacksonville. She met Donald Wilson of Beardstown at the youth center in Virginia sponsored by the American Legion. The couple married in 1953, then moved to State College, Pennsylvania, where Jessie worked as a purchasing secretary at Penn State University until the birth of their first child. The couple subsequently lived in Wood River, Illinois; Texas; and New Jersey.  When Donald retired, they moved to Washington state.
    Jessie and her husband loved to travel and visited numerous countries, as well as living in Egypt for eight months while her husband volunteered for a USAID project and Jessie volunteered as a secretary for the Fulbright scholarship program in Cairo.
    After retirement, the couple traveled the U.S. in their Airstream trailer. Besides travel, she loved to garden and was a member of the local garden club wherever she lived.
    She is predeceased by a brother, George Wilhite, of Lovington, Illinois, and two sisters, Mary Langford of Myrtle Creek, OR, and Betty Mallicoat of Peoria.
    Jessie is survived by her husband of 67 years, Donald Wilson; three daughters, Mary Jess Wilson of Sacramento, CA, Carol Blessing of Abilene, TX, and Ellen Wilson, of Farmville, VA; two sons-in-law, Andrew Blessing and Steven Stuart; 12 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
    There will be no immediate memorial ceremony. The family would appreciate donations in memory of Jessie Wilson to Friends of the Columbia Gorge, PO Box 40820, Portland, OR 97240, or another charity.