Jean Patterson Wilson was born in Rocky Mount, Virginia on November 11, 1936, to Willie O. and Sirrenia Smith Patterson. Her family moved to Martinsville, Virginia in 1939. Other than the first three years of her life, she grew up in Martinsville, Virginia.

She graduated from Albert Harris High School in 1955, where she ranked number nine in her class. She enrolled in Kittrell Junior College, Kittrell, North Carolina, where she received an Associate of Arts Degree. After graduating from Kittrell Junior College, she attended Allen University, Columbia, South Carolina, but after one semester of her junior year there, she transferred to St. Augustine’s College (University), Raleigh, North Carolina for the second semester of her junior year. She graduated from St. Augustine’s College (University), where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a double major in French and in English.

Her career in education started in the Martinsville City School System in 1961, as a teacher of French and English at the Albert Harris High School. When schools were integrated, she was assigned in 1967 to teach French (FLES) Foreign Language in the Elementary School, at the Druid Hills Elementary School. Upon opening of the new Martinsville High School in 1968, she was assigned to teach French and English there. In 1970, she was assigned to the Martinsville Junior High School to launch the French program for the eighth and ninth graders. She taught and loved the position of French and English teacher at the junior high school until her retirement in 1992. After retiring from the Martinsville City School System, she took the position as coordinator for the Alliance for Excellence at Patrick Henry Community College in 1992, where she has served for thirty-four years.

In her teaching years in the Martinsville schools, she served on evaluation teams in French for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in Chesapeake, Virginia and Virginia Beach, Virginia. She participated in the federal programs in French (NDEA) National Defense Education Act at Hollins College (University), Hollins, Virginia, in 1962; Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, 1966; the University of Toulouse, Toulouse, Franch, 1968; and Millersville State College (University), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1978. She received a Master of Science Degree in Education from North Carolina A and T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina in 1970.

She was inducted into the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority at St. Augustine’s College (University) in 1960. She was the first African American teacher to be inducted into the Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority for female educators in Martinsville and Henry County. She was the first African American woman to be appointed to the Martinsville Planning Commission, where she served for fifteen years from 1993 to 2008.

She was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where she has served as church musician for thirty years. She is also a member of the Fayette Area Historical Initiative (FAHI).

Jean leaves behind a legacy of love, faith, and resilience through her devoted sister, Earnestine Morrison and her husband, James of Ridgeway, VA; two brothers, Willie Patterson and James Patterson both of Ridgeway, VA; three nieces, Sherry Carter of Hanover, MD, Kathy Hairston and Pamella Pritchett both of Ridgeway, VA; three nephews, Michael Morrison of Ridgeway, VA, Willie Patterson and John Patterson both of Martinsville, VA; 4 great nieces; six great great nieces; six great great nephews; and a host of other relatives and friends.

A visitation service will be held on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. with a memorial service at 12 noon at the C.R.V. Memorial Chapel at Hairston Funeral Home, 301 Fayette St., Martinsville with Bishop J.C. Richardson, JR., Eulogist. Interment will follow at Carver Memorial Gardens, 869 Parkway Dr., Martinsville, VA.

Friends may greet the family at Hairston Funeral Home on Friday, March 20, 2026, between the hours of 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. At other times, the family will receive friends at the home of her sister and brother-in-law, Earnestine and James Morrison, 1327 Old Mill Rd., Ridgeway, VA. Live streaming of the Memorial Service will be available at Hairston Funeral Home live via Facebook.

Courteous, efficient and dependable services provided by Hairston Funeral Home.