Résumé

Jessup developed a specialty in designing houseboats for moorage sites on Lake Union and Portage Bay, the channel linking Lake Washington with Lake Union.

Principal, James A. Jessup, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1964-1969.

Partner, Jessup and [Roger H.] Newell, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1969-1971.

Principal, James A. Jessup, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1971- . As of 2019, Jessup had an office address of 3123 Fairview Avenue East, Seattle, WA 98102. Tel: 206.322.2121 (2019). He was retired by at least 2025.

High School / College

Graduate, Walla Walla High School, Walla Walla, WA, c. 1956. By 1955, Jessup had enrolled in ROTC in high school and served two years active duty in the US Naval Reserve during 1956 through 1958. (See Walla Walla High School Royal Blue Yearbook, 1955, p. 72.)

Coursework, architectural engineering, Washington State College (WSC) / Washington State University (WSU), Pullman, WA, c. 1959-1961. (WSC became WSU in 1959.) He joined Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity at WSC in 1959 or earlier.

Coursework, architecture University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Seattle, WA, c. 1961-1963.

Relocation

James Aaron Jessup was born in Wenatchee, WA, to Aaron and Rose Irene Jessup on 03/011938. At the time of his birth, he was the youngest of three children. In 1940, when James was 2, his family lived at 18 Wilson Street in Wenatchee. The Jessups owned the house in which they lived, valued at $2,800, in line with neighboring dwellings. As per the 1940 US Census, both of his parents worked. His father was employed by the Washington Employment Department, where he was a senior clerk. His mother worked as a saleswoman for a local department store. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Wenatchee, Chelan, Washington; Roll: m-t0627-04332; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 4-50, accessed 09/25/2025.)

By 1950, the Jessups lived at 1080 North Clinton Street in Walla Walla, WA. Two of "Jimmy" Jessup's elder sisters had moved out of the house by this time, leaving him as the only child at home. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Walla Walla, Walla Walla, Washington; Roll: 4537; Page: 72; Enumeration District: 36-26, accessed 09/25/2025.)

Between about 1959 and 1961, Jessup resided in Pullman, WA, where he attended college at Washington State College (renamed "Washington State University" in 1959.)

By about 1961, he moved to Seattle, to attend the University of Washington (UW). He has remained in Seattle for all of his working life.

During his lifetime, Jessup resided on a Lake Union houseboat with a street address on Fairview Avenue East in Seattle.

Parents

His father was Aaron W. Jessup (born 09/18/1896 in WA-d. 07/01/1996 in Phoenix, AZ), who, in 1930, had a job as a salesman for the Standard Oil Company in Ione, WA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Ione, Pend Oreille, Washington; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0027; FHL microfilm: 2342243, accessed 09/25/2025.) He worked between at least 1940 and 1950 for Washington's State Employment department. By 1950, the US Census listed his occupation as an "interviewer" for this state agency.

Aaron Jessup married James's mother Rose Irene Slater Rose Irene Slater (born 04/26/1897 in Marion, IN-d. 04/16/1969 in Phoenix, AZ) on 01/01/1924 in Pullman, WA.​ (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013, accessed 09/25/2025.) Rose worked during her son's lifetime, a relatively unusual circumstance for a woman with three children at the time. She was listed as a housewife in the 1930 US Census, but maintained employment as a department store saleswoman in 1940 and a US postal clerk in Walla Walla by 1950.

His siblings included Barbara Jean "Bobbi" Jessup Smoak (born 05/21/1925 in Spokane, WA-d. 10/31/2018 in Spokane, WA) and Sharon Patricia Jessup (born c. 1929 in WA). His sister Sharon also attended Washington State College before James. Older sister Barbara served in World War II as a transport plane flight orderly for the US Navy's WAVES.

Spouse

Jessup married at least three times.

He first wed Pamela Ruth Felthouse (born 09/09/1940 in Walla Walla, WA-d. 08/12/2018 in University Place, WA) on 12/27/1959 in Walla Walla, WA. Pamela, like James, attended Walla Walla High School, graduating c. 1958. (See Walla Walla County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1865-2025 - James Aaron Jessup - Pamela R Felthouse, Walla Walla County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1865-Present, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, accessed 09/24/2025.) They divorced before 1966, likely outside WA State, and she remarried to Jack Allan Glatz (born 12/07/1942) on 07/11/1969 in Solano County, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1960-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007, accessed 09/24/2025.)

The architect next married Lynne Elva McConnell on 02/26/1966 in King County, WA. (See King County Marriage Records, 1855-2017 - James Aaron Jessup - Lynne Elva Mcconnell, King County Marriage Records, 1855-2017, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, accessed 09/24/2025.) They divorced on 07/19/1979. (See Department of Health, Divorce Certificates, 1968-1999 - Jessup - James - Lynne - Et Al., Department of Health, Divorce Certificates, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, accessed 09/24/2025.)

Jessup married Suzette Ayn Willis on 06/03/1983 in King County, WA. (See King County Marriage Records, 1855-2017 - James Aaron Jessup - Suzette Ayn Willis, King County Marriage Records, 1855-2017, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, accessed 09/24/2025.)