Jessie Jane Gladys Dupar

Jessie Jane Gladys Polson was born August 30, 1929, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Alexander Vivian and Gladys Kathleen Polson, and her 4-year-old brother, Robert. The family lived in Allentown, then moved to New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, where she graduated from Camp Hill High School.

In the fall of 1947, Jessie left home to attend Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, majoring in French language. During her second year at Cornell, she met and began dating Bob Dupar; she was 18 and he was 22 years old. Jessie married the love of her life in Cornell’s Sage Chapel on June 4, 1949, the day of Bob’s last final.

For their honeymoon they visited Niagara Falls, then drove across the country to their first home in Palo Alto, California. Jessie had never cooked before getting married. Fortunately, Bob had taken cooking classes at the Cornell Hotel School, so he taught her. Jessie worked full-time as a bookkeeper until the birth of Cathy in 1951.

The family moved to Wenatchee, WA, in 1953, the year Bob, Jr, was born. Bob managed the Cascadian Hotel in Wenatchee for four years, while Jessie stayed home with their children. Patty was born in 1955. It was in Wenatchee that Bob and Jessie made some of their best life-long friends, many in their monthly Bridge Club and the Centipedes Dinner and Dance Club.

They moved to Lake Oswego, OR, in 1957, but were only there for two years before they made the move to Bellevue, Washington, in 1959, where Bob worked at the Western Hotels Executive offices in Seattle.

One of the transforming events in Jessie’s life was the visit of her parents to Washington in 1960. Her father, Alex, had begun to have some memory issues. While visiting the Dupar family summer home on Hood Canal celebrating the 4th of July, Alex walked away from the property, and disappeared, never to be seen again. The aftermath of his disappearance impacted Jessie and the family for years. Her mother stayed with them with the hope he would be found, but there was never a trace. Gladys lived with Bob and Jessie until her death in 1990.

Jessie continued to support Cathy, Bob Jr, and Patty at home through their elementary and high school years in Bellevue. Jessie loved to be in her home, sewing, reading, knitting gifts for family, and since 1994 doing family genealogy. She had an infectious smile, loved to laugh, and was not afraid of a challenge. In 1963, Jessie loaded the plaid cooler of snacks, her mother, and three kids into the station wagon and set off across America for Boston, visiting relatives on the way, as well as American landmarks. Picking up Bob in Boston, they continued to travel back to Seattle via a southern route through Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and on to Disneyland for the grand finale. The biggest trip she ever took was to Europe in 1966. She and Bob traveled for a month throughout Europe.

Bob and Jessie spent many years together sharing the company of friends in bridge clubs, tennis dates, bowling leagues, and investment clubs. They were avid boaters, and were active members of Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club. The family shares many fond memories of the boating years, at marinas from Puget Sound and Hood Canal in Washington, to Princess Louisa Inlet in British Columbia, as well as cruising to the University of Washington football games. Grandchildren anticipated the year they could read and go on a cruise with Grandma and Grandpa. They loved fine music as the stereo boomed over the water with big bands, The Osmond Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, and the Kingston Trio.

After the boating years, Bob and Jessie switched to driving around the Chaparral Country Club in their golf cart. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and many friends joined them escaping the northern cold through the years. They enjoyed wonderful friendships, golf, Mahjong, craft groups and the sun and warmth of Palm Desert from 1991 until Bob’s death in 2013, after 62 years of marriage.

In 2017, as her memory loss became more evident, Jessie once again moved back to Bellevue living with Bob, Jr. and Brigid’s family in the house she and Bob had built in 1960. She lived with them for seven years as her memories began to fade. She didn’t get out much in those years, except to Kelsey Creek Church and their memory loss service, Grace Gathering. In 2025, she moved to Golden Age Retirement Home where she lived until her death, under the care of the wonderful staff there.

Like many of the Greatest Generation, Jessie saw amazing changes during her lifetime. The first TV she saw was at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. From her vinyl records of the 50’s, she saw the invention of audio tapes, CDs, VCRs, computers and the Internet, jet airplanes, microwave ovens, rotary dial telephones that morphed into smart phones. Not to mention the rockets that carried men to the Moon!

Jessie was a supportive and much-loved mother-in-law and grandparent to her children’s families until her death at age 97 on September 25, 2026. She is survived by her children, Cathleen Oliver (Gregg), Durham, NC; Robert Dupar, Jr. (Brigid), Bellevue, WA; and Patricia Meredith (Mark), Olympia, WA; Grandchildren: Andy (Dawn), Ben (Amy), Emily Erkela (Cameron) and Luke (Carolyn) Oliver; Bo (Krystal), Haley, Rennie Jane and Molly Dupar; and Aaron, Jesse (Jen), and Sam (Charissa) Meredith. She is also survived by 23 great-grandchildren and three great-great-granddaughters. She will be missed immensely.