Jessie White (Dye) Edison

Jessie (Dye) White Edison 

Sunrise July 17, 1923   Sunset March 9, 2020

Jessie (Dye) White Edison was born on July 17, 1923 in the historic community of Parkers Chapel, Portland, Tennessee, to James and Jennie L. (Buntin) Dye. Jessie spent her formative years in Parkers Chapel surrounded by numerous Dye, Buntin and Smith cousins. These cousins were also many of her friends and classmates at the Parkers Chapel Primary School. One particular double cousin, Martha Bell Dye (Alexander) was at her side every day until they graduated from the eighth grade and Jessie left Parkers Chapel to attend high school. The close-knit Parkers Chapel community worshipped together at the Parkers Chapel Baptist Church, where Jessie accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and LORD, and was baptized at an early age.

In the Spring of 1942 Jessie moved to Pennsylvania, where her sister Madie and brother-in-law Joseph (Jackie) White introduced her to Jackie’s brother, Chester Isaac White, who would become her husband in November of 1942. To this union was born two daughters, Janet Esther White Franklin and Carol Louise White Mohamed. Jessie and Chester had a good, productive life together until his untimely death in February 1980. In 1983 she was courted by widowed Deacon Denver Edison and the two were united in marriage in November 1983.

While Jessie never forgot her Tennessee roots, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania became her home for the remainder of her life. Upon her marriage to Chester in 1942 she united with Mt. Olive Baptist Church and became active in the choir and missions ministries. Jessie studied the Bible and strived to enhance her relationship with GOD and follow the examples Jesus modeled during His earthly ministry. In later years at Mt. Olive Jessie became a new member instructor, a Deaconess and a Church Mother.

Jessie’s spirit of volunteerism, benevolence and social justice extended beyond her church walls. She actively supported local school and community initiatives and became one of the founding members of the Coraopolis and Vicinity Altrusa Club. The Altrusa Club began to provide fun and safe activities for local youth and expanded their work to include planning and facilitating reasonably priced vacation opportunities for local adults. She was active in other community activities beyond Coraopolis including, but not limited to, the Sewickley Community Center, the Toilers in Pittsburgh, the Moon AARP. Jessie served for several years as an Advisory Board Member for Pittsburgh’s Penn State Extension Office and went on to serve as a board member for the Client Council of Pittsburgh’s Neighborhood Legal Services Association until her declining health mandated her resignation.

Jessie believed in higher education and lifelong learning. In 1958 she gave up her role as a marvelous stay-at-home mother and went to nursing school. Even after she secured her nursing license and became a beloved employee at, then, Sewickley Valley Hospital, she continued to seek further education, securing certifications that expanded her nursing capabilities as well as becoming an EEG and EKG technician. She served SVH until her retirement in October of 1988. After retirement Jessie enjoyed both church work and an active social life with her two Deaconess and Mother’s Board best friends, Ocea Adams and Beatrice Webster. The church fondly named them Mt. Olive’s Golden Girls. Even after Jessie said goodbye to many of her friends, she drove until she was 90 and used her car as what we called, The Coraopolis Taxi. She drove people, many much younger than she, to doctor’s offices and other needed appointments until her health required that she would no longer drive.

In addition to both of her parents, and both husbands, Jessie was preceded in death by her daughter Janet, sisters Madie Alexander, Fannie Coleman and Hattie White and brothers William Carroll Dye, Matthew Dye and James Ewing. She is survived by her sister Clara Coleman of Duquesne, her ‘adopted’ sister Emily Kearse of Moon Township, her biological daughter Carol of Pittsburgh, several ‘adopted’ daughters and sons; one grand goddaughter, Randi D. Ford, many ‘adopted’ grandchildren; and a bounty of cherished nieces, nephews and cousins.

Visitation Thursday (March 19th) 2-4, 6-8 and Friday (March 20th) 1-5 PM at Copeland’s Coraopolis, 867 Fifth Ave. A celebration of Mrs. Edison's life has been scheduled for Sunday, July 17, 2022 at 12:30 PM at Mt. Olive Baptist Church. Rev. Michael Peterson officiating. A repast will follow.

As an alternative to floral tributes, charitable donations in Jessie’s name are welcomed, payable to Lott Carey WISE; mail to Lott Carey Global Christian Missions, 8201 Corporate Drive Suite 1245, Landover, MD 20785-2230. (lottcarey.org)

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