Jessie Washam

Submitted by: Shirley Harlan

Longtime School Board Clerk Dies

Mrs. Jessie B. Washam, who retired September 1 as clerk of the board of education, died this morning in Ponca City Hospital.

Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Friday in the First Methodist Church. The Rev. Ray O. Martin, pastor of the Kaw City Methodist Church, will officiate, assisted by the pastor, the Rev. Argus Hamilton. Burial will be in the Odd Fellows Cemetery under the direction of E. M. Trout and Sons Funeral Home. Friends may call at the funeral home until 12:30 p.m. Friday. The casket will not be opened at the church.

The Jessie B. Washam memorial fund has been established at the First Methodist Church and contributions to it may be made through the church office.

Mrs. Washham was born and reared in Ponca City, graduating from high school here. She also was a graduate of the Chillicothe Business College at Chillicothe, Mo. In 1924 she was employed by the board of education as registrar and in 1925 was elected clerk of the board.

Upon her retirement last September, Mrs. Washam was presented a framed resolution in recognition of "a brilliant career of over 40 years." The resolution stated, in part: "it is doubtful if the longevity of her service to education in Oklahoma....can be matched. Certainly she has no equal in the talents and abilities she has demonstrated in her knowledgeable handling of technical budgetary and accounting procedures."

Mrs. Washam was a memberof the Ponca City Educational Secretaries Association and of the National Educational Secretaries Association, which presented her with the Professional Standard Certificate Grade IV, the only person in Oklahoma to receive the certificate.

Mrs. Washam was a member of Soroptimist Club and had served the organization as president. She also was a former president of the Ponca City Business and Professional Women's Club. She was also a member of the First Methodist Church and the Order of the Eastern Star.

She was married to Abe Washam on Feb. 7, 1933, in Oklahoma City.

Surviving are her husband of the home, 90 Elmwood; a brother, William D. Bradley of Pasco, Wash.; two nieces, Mrs. Donald Forsythe of Richland, Wash., and Mrs. Robert Cabrier of Pasco, and two nephews, William Dee Bradley of Farmington, Utah, and Jesse E. Bradley of Clearfield, Utah.

© The Ponca City News
December 6, 1967