Board Members

Jill was born and raised in Aberdeen, Washington and graduated from Weatherwax High School (the historic building that burned down in 2002).  She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in Economics, and followed up with an MBA from Indiana University. Jill’s professional career began at Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, PA as its first outside female sales representative.  She relocated to Chicago and Indianapolis as a sales representative. Later she was promoted to various positions at corporate headquarters in Bethlehem, PA with her last position as Manager, Credit at Bethlehem’s Sparrows Point Plant in Baltimore, MD. She returned to the West Coast to help run the family steel business in Aberdeen in 2003, and worked there until that business was sold in 2019.

While living in Chicago, she became fascinated with architectural history and trained as a docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation, leading walking tours of the Chicago Loop, Frank Lloyd Wright walking tours in Oak Park, and tours of historic homes.  When she moved to Pennsylvania, she volunteered as a docent for Foundation for Architecture in Philadelphia, which provided walking tours of various historic neighborhoods. 

Since moving back to Washington, she has volunteered to lead tours of public art along Percival Landing for the City Olympia’s Park, Arts and Recreation.  She is currently a docent at the Bigelow House and a long-time member of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum.

A native Washingtonian, Ann was born in eastern Washington and raised in Tacoma. She moved to Olympia in January, 1971 and for most of those nearly 47 years has been active in the community. As her children were growing up she had a strong interest in their various activities and education volunteering with many youth programs and educational endeavors. Ann is a past state PTA president and past national PTA vice president serving on those boards over 10 years. Locally Ann co-chaired the Olympia Citizens for Schools levy campaign with Dick Pust from 1982 until 2015.

Ann’s interest in history and genealogy began at a young age when she used to draw pedigree charts of her family. Her mother’s paternal side came to the Dayton, Washington area in the early 1860’s where the first of four consecutive generations were born, Ann being the 4th. Continuing that interest, in 1974 Ann was one of the founders of the Olympia Genealogical Society where she held every elected office and twice served as president. She continues as a board member chairing the Beginner’s Genealogy Workshop held annually at the Olympia library. She is also the society’s annual Spring Seminar registrar, which she has done for a number of years.

A docent at the Governor’s Mansion since the mid 1970’s, Ann was encouraged to seek a tour guide position at the state capitol. She retired in 2011 after 17 years of providing civic

educational tours to 100’s of school children, youth and adults from around the world – a job she thoroughly enjoyed.

Ann was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Governor’s Mansion Foundation in the early 1990’s where she served as the Foundation’s historian. In 2008 Ann co-chaired the Governor’s Mansion Centennial Garden Party held on the front lawn of the mansion. Over 300 guests attended, most in period costume, including then Governor Gregoire and First Gentleman Mike. In 2015 Ann was elected treasurer of GMF and is currently serving a second term in that position.

Ann served on the committees to celebrate the centennial of the Temple of Justice in 2013, our state’s 125th birthday party in 2014 (she was in charge of the giant 3’ by 5’ cake decorated with a historical map of the state), and the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in 2015.

A 33-year member of the local Sacajawea Chapter of the DAR, Ann is finishing her second term as registrar. She is also the chapter’s parliamentarian. She is a life member of the Pioneers of Washington and a 35 plus- year member of the Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington where she is a trustee on the state board. Locally, she belongs to Olympia Chapter #4 which manages and operates the Crosby House Museum in Tumwater. She is serving her second term as president of the chapter. Chapter Daughters opened the house as part of the OHS/BHM Holiday Tour of Homes in 2015. She is part of the South Sound Historical Association as well as the group supporting the new Thurston County Journal. She has participated in the History Conferences put on by Don Trosper with the Olympia/Tumwater Foundation and, dressing in period costume, she has manned a booth at the Thurston County Through the Decades event. Ann most recently served on a group providing input to the City of Olympia officials regarding community arts, culture and heritage.

In her genealogical research, she finds she is a distant relative of the Bigelow family.

David has always been interested in history.  His maternal great great grandfather Joseph de Bettencourt came to California shortly after the Civil War to work on the western portion of the trans-continental railroad.  The Bettencourts were early settlers of Livermore, California. A portion of the original ranch is still in the family.

David has a BA in Interior Design from San Jose State University and has been in the field since 1967. After a few years as a buyer, and retail floor designer for furniture stores, he moved to Seattle in 1977. After a stint as retail floor designer for all the Doces and all the Ken Schoenfelt chains, David opened his design business in 1980. He moved his business to Olympia in 1989.

Besides designing many west coast and Olympia houses and businesses, David has worked in the Senior Living field since 1990.  Today he acts as consultant to Koelsch Senior Living Communities building new communities in the west and into Illinois.

David became involved with the Bigelow House Museum when it was being restored in the early 90’s.  His main contribution was meticulously uncovering the layers of wall coverings in the different rooms and choosing authentic reproductions for the restoration.  He helped with all aspects of the interior. It has been an ongoing project since then, and just this year another room was papered in  a Carpenter Gothic pattern circa 1845.  

David has been an honorary board member of the Bigelow House Museum since 1995 and recently also a board member of the merged OHS&BHM.  He is also on the board of a couple other organizations as well as on the Olympia Design Review Board.

David and his wife are fortunate owners of two historic properties, the Reed Block (1891) which Ruthann’s Drees occupies, and of the Egbert-Ingham House (1914).

Ben Helle is an archivist with Washington State Archives (Office of the Secretary of the State), having previously served as Government Records Archivist for the Ohio Historical Society. He received his BA with an emphasis in anthropology from Ohio State University, Columbus, in 1993 and has worked in the archives field since 1995. He has been a member of the Olympia Heritage Commission since 2013. He brings not only his extensive archives and historical research experience to the board, but also a keen interest in local history.

Jean Wilkinson is a Puget Sound native. She was born and grew up in Bellingham, and moved to Tacoma to attend the University of Puget Sound where she earned a B.A. in History. After spending a year in Saarbrucken, Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, Jean attended the University of Washington School of Law, attaining a J.D. in 1985. She moved to Thurston County in 1988.
Until her retirement in 2020 Jean served as an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Washington for 35 years. During her career, Jean immersed herself in Washington State government, providing legal representation to more than 20 state agencies in all three branches of government, and to two statewide elected officials. One of Jean’s favorite types of legal research involved trips to the Washington State Archives.

Jean’s introduction to Olympia area history was a 1989 Bigelow House tour led by Mary Ann Bigelow. Jean is a longtime member of Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum, as well as the Washington State Historical Society. Jean’s favorite type of reading is history. On trips, she and her husband, Jim Fulton, enjoy spending long days at historical sites, taking tours and carefully reading interpretive materials. In becoming more involved with the society Jean looks forward to promoting local historical knowledge and events in the Thurston County Community.
Jean and Jim raised their two children in the Gull Harbor area of North Olympia and proudly sent them to Olympia public schools.

Jeannine was born in Tacoma, WA and raised in Olympia since the age of 4. I graduated from Olympia High School, University of Puget Sound with a degree in Education and Psychology. She was employed by the House of Representatives in 1981 for a “session only” position. This led to working in the legislative arena from 1981 to 2013. Over the years, Jeannine was privileged to work for several Senators as a Legislative Aide, including Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder who was a history buff while making history and Majority Leader Lisa Brown, Governor Gary Locke and as a Tour Guide in the state capitol. She deeply enjoyed sharing the rich history of the state capitol with 100’s of students over the years. In 2008, Jeannine was elected to the Olympia City Council where she served as a Council Member from the fall of 2008 to the fall of 2017. She focused on keeping the historical integrity of the City including chairing the General Government committee which selected citizens to serve on the Heritage Commission. Her Great, Great, Great Grandfather Dr. Nathaniel Ostrander was elected as Mayor of the City of Olympia during the 1880’s. Recently retired from working as a realtor for the past 10 years, Jeannine enjoys serving the community in a variety of roles, including being a board member of the following: Olympia Rotary, Homes First, and the Family Support Center. Jeannine enjoys spending time with her family, including her four young granddaughters. She is pleased and honored to be filling the seat of her talented father, Charles Roe. He is definitely a hard act to follow

Dwight has been a resident of Olympia since moving here at the age of one (1965). Dwight graduated from Olympia High School and now serves as Historian on the Olympia High School Alumni Association Board. Dwight is an accomplished computer programmer, working for the State of Washington as a Systems Administrator for the past couple of decades. Progress in technology being his passion, it shares space in Dwight’s thoughts and heart with the historical path that has brought us to the current moment.

Dwight was a late-comer to following Olympia history. Beginning in the early 2000’s by collecting items of local historical interest, he’s built a collection of more than a thousand items of local historical interest. He has researched nearly every item in his collection for origin date, as closely as can be determined, as well as Thurston County historical relevance. Dwight has eagerly pursued knowledge of local history and appreciates how much others in the community have to offer us.

Dwight believes he is at the entry level of local history understanding and collection. Eager to follow this path, he has begun everything from matchbook covers to highly treasured old bottles and restaurant ware. Dwight’s future in historical understanding is boundless.

Paul is a long-time Olympia area resident, moving to Olympia shortly after joining the staff at the Washington State Senate. He is married to Mary Ann and their three children all graduated from Olympia High School. Paul was raised in the small town of Harrah in the Yakima Valley. He graduated from White Swan High School and went on to the University of Washington where he worked at the UW Law Library. Paul interned for and then joined the staff of U.S. Senator Dan Evans where, as one of the last hires, Paul was charged with archiving the Senator’s Seattle office papers. Hired to the State Senate in 1991, Paul has held a number of positions, including stints as Deputy in 2003-2004 and again in 2015-2017. While on staff, Paul is responsible for the historic publications of the Senate and the Legislature, including maintaining the Members of the Legislature book, the lists of Women in the Legislature, and curator of the two-volume History of the Legislature by Don Brazier. Paul is also the Senate’s designee to the Capitol Furnishings and Preservation Committee which works on the Legislative Buildings historic furnishings.

Cheryl is a long time resident of Olympia, having moved here with her family as an elementary school student. She graduated from Olympia High School and attended the University of Washington graduating with a BA in Art. She undertook graduate work in urban planning and design also at UW. After an exploratory museum studies seminar at the Evergreen State College, Cheryl went on to complete the Certificate Program in Museum Studies from UW Extension.

Cheryl had a long career with the State of Washington. During her 40-year tenure she worked as a program manager in a variety of programs including public art, early childhood education, affordable housing development and homeless housing solutions for youth and families.

Currently Cheryl is active on the Eastside Neighborhood Association board and worked intensively with several neighbors to write the Eastside Neighborhood Subarea Plan for the City of Olympia. She lived in the Bigelow neighborhood for 27 years and served as a board member (including two years as president) for the Bigelow Neighborhood Association.

One of Cheryl’s most memorable volunteer efforts was working with a small group of diverse Olympia residents to plan and execute the annual Olympia Pie Fest. Over 10 years the group generated thousands of dollars for the Thurston County Food Bank and Senior Nutrition Program. 

Vickie was born in Olympia, the first child of the fourth generation of her family to live in Thurston County.  She attended Garfield Elementary, Jefferson and Washington middle schools, and graduated from Olympia High School in 1973.  In her senior year she was the Olympia Bear—the first female to serve as the mascot.  She is a graduate of Western Washington University with a major in psychology and a minor in education.  She received her Master’s Degree in Creative Arts in Education from Leslie University.

Vickie was an educator for 30 years, having taught kindergarten through college, as well as staff development.  The highlights of her career were teaching for the U.S. Department of Defense in what was then West Germany, teaching in three orphanages in Honduras, as well as the Griffin, Olympia, and North Thurston School Districts.  She is retired and has six grandchildren who represent the 6^th generation of Thurston County residents.

After retirement she worked as a volunteer for six months in the archives of the Willa Cather Foundation in Red Cloud, Nebraska transferring items stored since 1947 from cardboard boxes into a new state-of- the-art archives.  One of her hobbies is genealogy.  She is fascinated by her ancestors role in the development of the United States and particularly Thurston County.  Among her ancestors is a Tlingit Stikine Native American who married a man with the Hudson Bay Company.  She looks forward to sharing her skills as a new board member for OHS&BHM.

Charlene’s birth tribe was her mother’s tribe the Colville Confederated Tribes until she relinquished to join her father’s tribe in 1975 after the Boldt Decision. It is from her mother’s ancestry she has cultural connections to the Confederated Tribes Coliville, Yakima and Nez Perce’. Charlene is an enrolled tribal member of the Squaxin Island Tribe-Medicine Creek Nation, her cultural family lineage goes back several thousands of years. It is through her father’s ancestral lineage she has cultural heritage with the Medicine Creek Nation of the Squaxin, Nisqually and Puyallup Tribes. Her father was dual enrolled with the Squaxin and Puyallup and professed ancestral lineage to several other NW Tribes too.

After the Judge Boldt historical ruling in 1974 affirming the reserved rights to harvest salmon for Squaxin Island Tribe, she became a Tribal fisherperson navigating the ancestral marine waters of her people in various boats. Her brothers and family members taught her how to construct salmon gear, tidal flow and science of all things connected. With the years of experience of traveling on the marine waters she easily understood the importance of the resurgence of the canoe way of life:.

Charlene was one of the key people to implement canoe journeys for the Squaxin Island tribe. March 1994 Squaxin hosted one of the first canoe journeys at Percival Landing called “Healing of the Waters” over five thousand people came to witness the water ceremony as Salish canoes visually and audibly came in with their Salish songs and canoes. The Heiltsuk canoe came from a small fishing village from the First Nation people of Canada, they brought their sacred waters for the water ceremony. From the North to the South Squaxin is culturally connected to the NW Tribes through the yearly canoe Journeys.

The responsibility of the yearly canoe journey resides at the MLRC, metaphorically the canoe has been the vehicle to bring back the language, songs, dance, artwork, foods/medicine and ancient teachings. At the MLRC the mission is to educate and empower the people.

Charlene has served her people in different capacities all the while sharing the cultural knowledge and history of the Squaxin Island people. She has been a volunteer on numerous boards, committees, commissions and is the executive director for the Squaxin Island Tribe Museum Library Research Center and a Tribal Council member of 20 years.