Jessie Lightfoot Permar

Jessie Lightfoot Permar Jessie Lightfoot Permar, 93, of Philadelphia, PA passed away Monday, May 11th, peacefully, at her residence. Jessie was born in Philadelphia, PA on October 10, 1926, eldest daughter of the late Lillian (Adams) and Harold T. Lightfoot. She was the widow of Jonathan Stackhouse Permar. They had been married for 58 years before his passing in 2007. Jessie was an artist and fashion designer, who graduated from Moore College of Art in 1948. In the 1950s she established a children’s clothing design business, Jessie Fashions, which sadly was disbanded when the family moved from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh Jessie learned the art of weaving, established a home studio, exhibited widely and became actively involved in the Pittsburgh fiber art scene. She enjoyed travel, and on return to Philadelphia in 1974 she developed a property business and set up an art studio in Manayunk. In the late 1980s she established an art gallery in her studio building, called The Back Room, in which she exhibited emerging artists. Subsequently she developed proposals for public art commissions, some of which were designed collaboratively with her daughter She published a book, Memories, about her brother Clark, who died tragically young in 1951. Jessie is fondly remembered as a kind and thoughtful, modest and adventurous woman who lived life with supreme tenacity. Jessie is survived by her daughter, Roxane; her sister, Helen Boissevain; seven nieces and nephews, including her siblings’ children, Susanne Boissevain Rothchild, David Boissevain and Walter Schrader. Services are private at the convenience of family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. https://www.med.upenn.edu/adcc/giving.html