Jessie A. Bernard

Jessie Bernard, 69, of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, passed away after a sudden illness on March 13, 2023, at the UMASS Medical Center in Worcester, MA. 

She was born in Presque Isle, ME on July 9, 1953, daughter of the late Lawrence and Veda (Dodge) Willette.  Jessie attended several different schools while her family was travelling from base to base with the military.  She received her education in schools in Presque Isle, Louisiana, Kansas, and graduated in 1972 from Atwater High School in California.

Castle Air Force Base in Atwater was where Jessie met Gerard Bernard.  They married each other on December 1, 1973, in the Base Chapel, and began their own travels with Gerry’s different assignments.  They finally settled in Jaffrey in 1990. 

Through the years, Jessie enjoyed working in food service at facilities as large as Digital Corporation and even at small diners wherever they were living.  Locally, she worked in the cafeterias at D.D. Bean & Sons and Millipore, before retiring from the Jaffrey-Rindge School District in 2012.   

Jessie was very active in each of the communities she lived in, and blossomed when she lived in Jaffrey.  She was a member and past president of Jaffrey’s John Humiston American Legion Auxiliary Unit #50, and served at the State level as a past president of New Hampshire’s American Legion Auxiliary Department.   Jessie was also active as a director in the 40 & 8 LaFemmes Unit and was past president of Voiture 0300 in Sterling, Massachusetts.

In her free time, Jessie enjoyed traveling and camping with Gerry, and spoiling her dogs, Shadow and Buddy.  She was an avid football fan and loved watching College Football and her beloved New England Patriots.  She also liked working and playing on her computer.

In addition to her parents, Jessie was also preceded in death by her daughter, Kimberly, and by her son Philip.

She is survived by her loving husband of 49 years, Gerard ‘Gerry’ Bernard of Jaffrey, NH; her daughter Susan and her husband Joseph Hayes, of Joplin, MO; her 4 grandsons, Brandon, Garrett, Tristan and Bryce; her brother, Larry Willette of Presque Isle, ME; her 4 sisters, Debbie Willette, Cindy Willette, and Mary Willette, all of Fort Fairfield, ME, and Virginia Willette of Caribou, ME, as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial for Jessie will be held in the warmer weather and will be announced at that time.  She will be buried in the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Winchendon.   

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial contribution in Jessie's name to the Good Neighbor Fund, PO Box 486, Jaffrey, NH 03452.