Jessie M Wilkierson

Jessie Morris was born in Newark, NJ, on February 11, 1928, and died on November 14, 2024. She is survived by four nieces, Paulette Braxton, Milagros Williams, Sylvia Collins, and Juana Brown, and one nephew, Raymond Wells.

One niece, Dorothy James, and one nephew, Ronald Morris, predeceased her.

Jess was the youngest child of William B. Morris and Margaret Hall Morris, who had immigrated to this country from Jamaica several years before she was born. She had three older siblings: Mortimer, Theda, and Edith. All her siblings predeceased her. The family moved to East Orange when she was young, and Jess spent all her school years there. She graduated from East Orange High School in 1946 and Upsala College in East Orange in 1950. Jess’ two older sisters became teachers, and Jess began teaching in the East Orange school system after graduation from college. She spent most of her career teaching English at Vernon L. Davey Junior High School, known locally as “VLD.”
In 1955, she married Kenneth C. Wilkerson of East Orange, and the two of them were a love match that lasted until he died of a heart attack in 1975. They moved into a house on Melrose Ave. in East Orange, and Jess remained there until 2021, when injuries from a fall forced her to move into an assisted living facility. Jess was an institution at VLD. She had a reputation for being strict but fair.

Since the announcement of her death, many former students have provided fond remembrances, many years after leaving VLD. Jess loved the written word. She was a voracious reader who could disappear for hours on end with a book. Over the years, she accumulated enough books in her house to supply the library of a small town.

Jess’ parents, siblings, and family were active in the Church of the Epiphany. Jess sang in the choir, worked with the scholarship fund, and remained active in the church for the rest of her life.
In addition to the church, Jess was an active member of many groups, including the Phi Delta Kappa educational sorority and the Essex County Retired Educators
Association. In 1976, she served as president of the East Orange Bicentennial Committee, which organized the city’s celebration of the United States' bicentennial.
In the 1970s, Jess, her sister Edith, and Edith’s husband Edwin bought a house in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard. They spent many summers there, and Jess and Edith loved filling the house with family and friends.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Jessie M Wilkierson, please visit our floral store.