Jean Hester Wallace

Jean Hester Wallace

Jean Hester Wallace, 96, most recently of Snohomish, WA, died on Jan. 5., 2024, at Evergreen Hospice in Kirkland after contracting aspiration pneumonia.

She was born to Elizabeth “Betty” Ursula Murphy and Clinton Monroe Hester on March 16, 1927, in Washington, D.C.

Her father was the son of a minister in Montana.  As a teen, her father had hopped a train from Montana to go to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. Even though his scholarship to the university preparatory school had fallen through, he was hoping school officials would be struck by his ingenuity and fortitude and let him in. Fortunately, his plan worked. In his final year there, he met Betty at a school dance. After they married, the couple moved to the nation’s capital where Betty worked to put Clinton through law school.

Jean’s parents had been married for 10 years when she was born, and her father was already well-established in his legal career.

Her father worked as an attorney for the U.S. Justice and Treasury departments.  He later was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the first administrator of the precursor to the Federal Aviation Administration. He flew on the first survey flights to map out commercial air routes over the North and South Atlantic and over the Pacific and South Pacific. During his career, he received five presidential appointments. He opened his own law firm, becoming one of the top corporate attorneys in the U.S. He represented the National Football League, American Brewers Association, Wool Manufacturers, Reynolds Aluminum, among others.

Jean grew up quickly as she attended rigorous schools, and she had the opportunity to join her parents for various events and dinners with their friends, associates, lawmakers and diplomats.

The world that Jean grew up in was filled with national politics, people from around the world and from all walks of life. She was brought up to appreciate each individual for unique qualities and to treat everyone with courtesy and respect.

As an adult, she often laughed at her memory of being disappointed on her seventh birthday when a dignitary was over for dinner, and her parents did not want her to tell him that it was her birthday for fear that he would feel like he should have brought her a present.

Some of Jean’s favorite childhood memories were from an adventure-filled trip with her parents to the West Coast in 1936 when she was 9. They made the roundtrip from the East Coast in their Graham-Paige automobile in the days before interstate freeways. They had to carry water to fill the car’s radiator which was especially necessary when crossing Death Valley on the way back home. They experienced everything from car trouble to a close encounter with a bear in Glacier National Park in Montana.  Along the way, they surprised relatives in Kentucky, Nebraska and Montana. They motored up the steep Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park where they spent the night. They drove down the Oregon Coast to California, saw the nearly completed Golden Gate Bridge and toured film studios in Hollywood.

Growing up in Washington, D.C., Jean was a dedicated student. She started out at Holy Cross Catholic school. During elementary school she transferred to Maret, a French college prep school.  For the upper grades, she attended Holton-Arms, a prep school for girls where she had to study hard to get through the challenging academic program.

While a student at Holton-Arms, she befriended a number of students who were destined for the spotlight — Jacqueline Bouvier, who became First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy; Lucille Camalier later married to John Sirica who became the judge on the Watergate case in Washington, D.C.,  and Alice Kleberg of the King Ranch fame in Texas. She visited Alice at the legendary ranch where they rode horseback, helping the cow hands herd cattle.

As a child, she had two beloved Cocker Spaniels, Buffy and Barry. They put her on the path to becoming a lifelong animal lover. Both of her parents rode horses, so it was a given that Jean would also learn how to ride. Her father rode with Joseph Kennedy and his young son Jack (John) who would later become president of the United States.

After graduating from Holton-Arms, she went to Rollins College in Florida and then the University of Arizona in Tucson.

She often spent time at her father’s historic Bath Alum Farm near one of the first luxury resorts in the U.S. — The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.

It was while playing tennis at The Homestead that she met Donald Deutsch of Louisville, Ky. They married in 1948 and lived near Princeton, N.J., while Don was in school at Princeton University. Once Don graduated and joined Sears Roebuck Co., they moved to Kentucky where Don became a manager at stores in Lexington and Frankfurt. Both of their children were born while they were living in Kentucky. When Don was promoted to the Sears corporate office in Chicago, they moved to Kenilworth, Ill.

When they divorced in 1958, Jean and the children moved to Washington, D.C., where they lived with her mother, Betty, who helped raise the children when Jean went to work in her father’s law office.

Working as a legal researcher for her father’s firm,  she also handled documents concerning legislation and delivered them to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In this role, she worked with congressmen and senators and also attended political functions and embassy parties.

Her father was a close friend of then Congressman Lyndon Johnson, and one evening Jean filled in as a dinner partner at The White House for Johnson, when his wife, Lady Bird, was in Texas for a business meeting. In 1963 Johnson became president of the U.S.

After 25 years of marriage, Jean’s parents divorced. Jean remained close to her mother, a strong and independent woman with a sharp Irish wit from hardy New Hampshire stock.  Over the years she and her mother renovated several historic homes in Alexandria, Va., and Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

She remained a confidante and adviser to her father. He put her in charge of a development project on his farm to build five luxury rental cottages. After receiving her real estate license, Jean sold residential homes for a while.

Jean devoted her life to raising her two children, ensuring they received top educations and were able to pursue their interests. She enrolled her daughter in horseback riding lessons, and  her son learned how to fly airplanes.

Family and friends were sacrosanct. She faithfully kept in touch with them by phone, letters and visits. Her letters were full of details and her handwriting was exquisite with a unique artistic flare.

Jean was interested in everything from fashion to philosophy.

Style, clothes, colors and home decor were her thing.  It was from her mother that Jean inherited her sense of humor and artistic side, including a love of art galleries and theater.

She loved her computer and spent hours a day on it, reading and researching topics of interest. As she researched health issues, she kept up on traditional and natural medicine. Andrew Weil and other respected authorities on natural medicine were her favorite sources.  In addition to tradition medicine, she found benefits in acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, yoga and tai chi.

Good health and nutrition were a priority. She kept track of her daily fat intake, making sure it was under 60 grams. She loved to go for long walks. She also enjoyed swimming, golfing and especially excelled at tennis and was good enough that she played with several ranked players.

She did not like to sit idly by. A  hard worker, she always had some project going  — whether it was painting the inside of her house or being handy with a sewing machine, making many of her own dresses and those for her daughter. She quipped that one of her dreams was to own a hardware store.

With a hard-to-fit narrow foot that was between sizes 9 and 9.5, she was always in search of the perfect shoe that was fashionable yet comfortable. Jean sometimes joked that if she won the Lottery, she’d like to own a shoe factory so she could create better options.

Jean was a generous spirit and consistently donated to the Humane Society of the United States, Salvation Army and summer camps for children.

In 1964 she married Thomas Reamer Wallace of Warm Springs, Va., who co-founded Clarkson & Wallace Real Estate. They were divorced a few years later.

After Jean returned to Washington, D.C., for the last time, she became a property manager for luxury condominiums. She was a favorite manager among staff members. She hired several employees who needed a second chance in life. She was highly organized and meticulous, and she and her staff kept the buildings in shipshape. There were a number of well-known politicians and celebrities in her buildings. She treated everyone the same and saw that the rules were applied equally.

As a devoted newspaper reader, she remained interested in politics and followed the news until the end. She also was partial to Anderson Cooper on CNN.

Murder mysteries, especially those by Alexander McCall Smith, captured her attention. She was drawn to ghost stories. She also was fascinated by confirmed medical reports about patients who had died and been revived with stories to tell about seeing a white light in the world beyond before coming back to life in the hospital.

Later in life, she became a movie fan. Among her favorite films were “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” “Hyde Park on Hudson” and “Midnight in Paris.”

She was a fan of comedian and actor Bill Murray’s and often commenced her phone calls with Murray’s signature  “Razzle-dazzle.”

The late comedian Gilda Radner was also treasured, and Jean frequently used Radner’s line whenever there was a blip along the road of life. “It just goes to show you it’s always something! If it’s not one thing, it’s another!” She also often borrowed a line from a friend, “I’m in good shape for the shape I’m in!”

Having watched all of the DVDs for the TV series “Northern Exposure”, she became a big fan and occasionally visited Roslyn, WA., with her family where the show had been filmed. There she met and became friends with the owners of The Cicely’s Gift Shop, an important set on the show.  Another TV favorite was the popular British drama/comedy “Doc Martin” set on the picturesque fishing village in Cornwall.  She continued to enjoy many laughs from “Seinfeld.”

She lived life to the fullest — out and about every day, making her rounds for errands and appointments and driving her car till she was 92. She had several good friends, but she sometimes joked that some of her friends were paid to like her. People were drawn to her warm and outgoing self — and she befriended  baristas, cafe and restaurant servers, grocery workers and others.

As she began to slow down and needed assistance, she continued to direct her own care and menu — double-checking the work of those helping her.

In 2003, after she had retired, she moved to Minnesota, to be near her son and daughter-in-law. She enjoyed walking the neighborhoods and lakes, exercising and swimming at The Marsh, a unique fitness center and health spa. She frequented top cafes and restaurants with her son and daughter-in-law. She also enjoyed traveling to Hawaii with them.

In 2019 she moved in with her daughter and son-in-law in the Seattle area where she had visited for 30 summers, riding ferries to San Juan Island and staying at the Hotel de Haro at Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor House.

Many trips also were made on the ferry from Anacortes, WA, to Victoria, B.C., to enjoy that city and partake in the famous Indian buffet at the Bengal Lounge.

In 2020, Jean was diagnosed with lung cancer. She was put on Hospice but graduated from it 5 months later because she was not declining.  She didn’t seem to develop symptoms from lung cancer. She remained full of life and didn’t give up.

After coming down with pneumonia in January, Jean’s health issues were taking their toll. She was admitted to Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland for several days, but her body was not responding to treatment.

Jean died at Evergreen Hospice after being there for only one day. When she was admitted to Hospice, she was trying to direct the staff and order special foods. The staff said that she was way more lively than most people when they were admitted there for end-of-life care. As fate would have it, she declined rapidly. By the next day, she was gone.

Jean is survived by her son and daughter-in-law in Minnesota and her daughter and son-in-law in Washington.

The family is grateful to Evergreen Hospice for the loving care Jean received at their facility in Kirkland. They are also grateful for the care of her longtime caregiver Donna Turner, and other caregivers including those at Good Rest Home in Kirkland where she spent her final months