Newly divorced, with a new, 60’s-furnished apartment in the new cool Southwest area of DC, with two kids and a new job, she “did a Jessie,” and bought herself a new red Camaro. The kids got the sweetest stray black mutt known to the world at that time. And they reinforced the tight unit they always were, Jessie, Liz, Josh and now Pup-girl.In another typical Jessie, she got into the Washington scene, taking her kids to rallies and folk sing-alongs, working at non-profits like the Population Reference Bureau, starting work on a Master’s Degree in education, and dating!
At some hip Georgetown party thrown by an old friend, Jessie met her second husband, Jerry, the handsome and idiosyncratic “confirmed bachelor,” originally from Boston and at that time an economist with his own idiosyncratic townhouse in Georgetown. A new life was made there, with Jessie renovating what her parents under their breath wondered was a slum (“all that old furniture!” and “all those old newspapers and magazines!” and “all that old, OLD stuff!” and “it’s so dark!”).
Jessie added wild flowered wallpaper in the kitchen, displaying the work of modern artists, Latin American tapestries and her own cheerful and compelling sense of style. The Georgetown house was lively with the friends of her kids, who were always welcome, and the various other young people she invited in and who often stayed for months and years, many becoming life-long friends. The house was also filled with music, learning and talking. Jessie finished her Master’s Degree and started a Ph.D program.
Throughout these years, family continued to be her focus. There were many gatherings in DC, NY and later California, including Passover, birthdays and anniversaries. She and Saul even treated their parents to a family trip to Israel in 1977.
Despite the challenges facing her in the professional world she always managed to excel as a mom, a daughter, a sister and an aunt. And of course as a Bubbe herself… as well as a “Jessie” to everyone!
Professionally, Jessie’s career evolved from master teacher/teacher trainer at Adams Community School, at a revolutionary time in DC’s public school evolution, the beginning of “community schools” run by the community and not the government bureaucracy, to work in manpower development and adult education for the Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO), and later at the National Advisory Council on Adult Education, a Presidential advisory council later eliminated by President Reagan. The theme was consistent and passionate – adults had the right to become literate, to have primary and secondary education available to them no matter what their age, wealth or immigration status, and to create the educational foundation for all adults to grow and thrive.
At the University of Maryland, Jessie ran the Adult Education Staff Development Project for several years. She then returned to federal service, returning as Director of Research and Evaluation at the Presidentially-appointed National Advisory Council on Continuing Education, where she drafted and advocated for legislation that was later enacted as Title I of the Adult Education Act, designed to help adults become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency. This legislation is still in place today.
When the advisory council was eliminated by Reagan in a government-wide “RIF” of hundreds of valuable government social and welfare programs, Jessie took a professional hiatus to help Jerry make a go of an antiques enterprise that Jerry had always dreamed of taking from obsessive hobby to successful business venture.
Jessie was again enticed back in to federal service at the request of the Clinton Administration, first at the U.S. Department of Energy where she was director of communications at the Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and later at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where she was chief of staff to the Deputy Administrator. Although new to these policy areas, Jessie excelled, receiving a Presidential award for her work to reduce air and water pollution at the agency’s laboratories (the Labs 21 project). Jessie was also designated “Federal Executive Visionary” by the Federal Energy Management Program for initiating groundbreaking public outreach to help new leaders achieve the promise of a sustainable clean energy future.
Following her work in the Clinton Administration, Jessie continued working for almost 10 more years, as a consultant to the City Solicitor of Philadelphia and to various non-profit and start-up organizations, retiring completely in 2009. Also during this time, the Georgetown house was sold, and they moved to the suburbs to facilitate Jerry’s antiques business.
As the family expanded, Jessie spread her love across the country and across the oceans. She always kept in touch, remembered birthdays and special events and kept up with everything of importance to all of those around her. She was always beyond generous in her spirit and her gift-giving.