Aunt Jessie Wyant Noel

My mom’s Aunt Jessie was a favorite of my mom, maybe because she lived in California. She was an  older sister to my grandmother, Bess Wyant Wellons. Aunt Jessie was married to Robert Noel. We stayed with them at their home in Walnut Grove in the Bay Area on our train trip to California when I was 10 years old. I still remember the back yard with all of the tropical plants. Aunt Jessie was a taller, thinner and slightly older looking version of my grandmother. Like with Aunt Mary, there was no doubting that they were sisters.

She was born Jessie Beatrice Wyant on October 15, 1900 in Newkirk, Oklahoma and died at 103 years old on November 7, 2003 in Anderson, Indiana. She had moved back to Anderson after her husband had died and lived with her sister Mary and husband Roy and then in a nursing home. She died from a fall which broke her hip. Her remains were cremated and I’m not sure if there is a grave site. She was the longest living person on record in my family.

She was married to “Uncle Robert”, Robert Noel. He was born on March 20, 1905, probably in Shelby, Missouri where his family was located for multiple censuses. His parents were T.W. Noel and Etta Noel. He died in 1984 and was buried in Anderson Memorial Park.

His WWII draft registration shows he was working at the Union National Bank in Springfield, Missouri.

In the 1940 census we have:

Robert 35, a bank teller having completed 4 years of college and making $1,020 per year.
Jessie 35, a telephone operator having completed 2 years of high school and making $936 per year.

There are no kids listed. They were living at 1052 S. Fort Avenue in Springfield, MO in a rental.

Uncle Robert appears to have the highest level of educational achievement in our family for their generation and Aunt Jessie was clearly the sibling with the most education. Depending, I guess, on how you count Uncle Fred’s chiropractor training.