Wilma Jack

My mother, Wilma Rasnick Jack, is not famous, nor would she think she should have a bio and a brick on the Portland State Heroines’ Walk, but in this, she would most certainly be wrong: at ninety years young, she is a very special individual! She is an inspirational role model to both those who know her best, and to those who have just met her. 

Born in the back country of Virginia in the small town of Clintwood, Wilma grew up in a simpler time and place. As the first child of William and Maxine Rasnick, she and her younger brother Edmund enjoyed a rather typical early-twentieth century childhood. Eventually, the family left the small town life for the “city,” and settled in Kingsport, Tennessee where they lived in a neat brick house on Wataugua Street. It was here that Wilma attended Dobbins Bennett High School and became the “southern belle” that her family often teases her about today. Even the senior yearbook quotes her as being: “Pretty to walk with, witty to talk with, and pleasant to think on.”

As the Great Depression forced many Americans to relocate, so the Rasnicks too felt the need to look westward to find new opportunities. After some debate, Bill and Maxie came to Portland, Oregon where they found an apartment off NW 21st Avenue, and Bill went to work for Nabisco Company. Wilma, however, had an opportunity to remain in Tennessee at the home of her uncle and aunt, Dr. Henry and Hattie Reed. There Wilma continued her education at Virginia Intermont, a small girls school, while waitressing in the dining room to help pay tuition. But after just one year of higher education, finances dictated a change, so in 1940 Wilma came west on the bus “just for a short visit.” Meanwhile, her southern friends wondered if the untamed Oregon wilderness would prove too uncivilized to the somewhat naive daughter of the Confederacy and great admirer of Robert E. Lee.

That short visit proved to be something quite permanent, however, as Wilma began a new chapter in her life. In hat and gloves, she decided to interview with the young head of the new IBM Department at Iron Fireman, a small manufacturer of home furnaces, in the midst of converting itself into a defense plant for the war effort. As a recent graduate of Washington State College, Robert Vernon Jack was just beginning his business career, having grown up in San Pedro, California and Peshastin, Washington. He was quite taken with the attractive young Southern Baptist and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Robert and Wilma were married in 1944, and had their first child, Melinda Lee, in 1946, followed by Robert Allen in 1952. After a short stint in a “newlywed” apartment, they first lived in a little white house with a picket fence near Kellogg Grade School, moving to the Eastmoreland neighborhood when their son Rob was born. Even today Wilma continues to reside in the family home they purchased here in 1959. In the next twenty years as their children grew up, Bob and Wilma pretty much enjoyed the life of middle class America in a “Leave it to Beaver” environment.

After leaving Iron Fireman, Bob climbed the corporate ladder from Treasurer to Chairman of the Board as his new company, Osborne Electronics, grew and transformed itself into OECO Corporation, an electronics supplier to companies like Boeing and Lockheed. During this time, OECO received a National Small Business Award presented by the President in the White House Rose Garden. Mother Wilma, in the meantime, was the ideal example of the stay-at-home mom who participated in all aspects of her children’s, and later grandchildren’s, lives. When retirement came, Bob and Wilma spent time traveling and enjoying each other’s company. Although today Wilma is a widow (Robert died in 1997), she still lives a full and rewarding life with her daughter and son, four grandchildren, and one great-grandson. 

At this point the casual reader might ask, So what makes this seemingly ordinary woman “individual” and “inspirational”? My answer—while the events of Wilma Jack’s life may not be unique, her personality and presence are truly one-of-a-kind. Her enthusiasm and zest for life and learning are readily apparent and her true interest in other people endears her to everyone, from family members and close friends to those who meet her only casually. People quickly warm to her friendly smile and, within a manner of minutes, feel right at home. Consequently, when I first read about the Heroines’ Walk, I knew my mother would be a perfect candidate: someone who truly brightens the world even in the tenth decade of her life!