Eleanor Kathleen Wilson

It is with sadness that we report the passing of our sweet cousin Eleanor K. Wilson on 23 February 2026. She left us after a long and uniquely happy life. Her humor, stories, guidance , observations and incredible role as the unofficial “ family historian” will be impossible to replace.

Eleanor was the daughter of her mother Bertha Hughes and father James Wilson. She was born in Portland,Oregon and five years later the family moved to Yelm, Washington. It was in Yelm that her “Daddy”, Jim, raised a variety of crops on their acreage and many of her happiest memories revolved around her childhood and her adventures with her half brother. After graduating from Yelm High School in 1946, she attended the College of Puget Sound for one year and then entered the working world when the family moved to Yakima in 1947 so that Jim could begin work on the construction of the McNary Dam. His sudden death in 1950 led Eleanor and her mother Bertha to move to Roseburg, Oregon where she began work as a librarian. It was a wonderful fit….Eleanor had a deep passion for books all her life…..a family trait. Her mother’s health issues brought them back to Yakima in 1955. Here she served as the Secretary of the First Christian Church for five years until 1960. She then moved to Seattle and began the major portion of her working life in the offices of COJK, the intellectual property law firm. In that world her skilled memory was legendary. Eleanor greatly enjoyed her years at COJK and was a part of the staff until her retirement. In 2006, she moved back to Yakima and became a resident of what was then Orchard Park and is now Solista.! In the process she made a host of new friends and was, despite declining health, happy everyday. It was a superb match.

Throughout her life, Eleanor was a woman of faith , a lifelong Methodist, she sang in the church choir in every church she was a member of until she moved a final time back to Yakima. She had a joyful love of books, was a true and loyal friend. A person of great integrity and principle. She was loved dearly by her friends and family. After a long and full life, she is and will remain…deeply missed.