Jessica Walters

Long-time Chico resident, Jessica Walters, died on July 30, 2020 as a result of complications arising from Alzheimer's disease. She was 74 years old. Jessica was born Georgette Jessica Burns in Oakland, California on July 15, 1946 to George Jesse Burns and Sally Oleta Dixon Burns. She was a 1964 graduate of College Park High School, Pleasant Hill, California, then a graduate of the IBM Automation Institute, and later from Heald Business College in Walnut Creek, California. In July 1966, she married her high school sweetheart, Stephen Walters. They were later divorced. Jessica worked for the Frigidaire Division of the General Motors Corporation, beginning in 1965 in the San Leandro, California data processing office, and later in the Los Angeles office. In 1975, she became the Secretary to the Regional Merchandising Manager in San Leandro, and then in 1976 was promoted to become the first woman district sales manager in Northern California north of Sacramento, with accounts from Reno to Eureka, and Sacramento to Redding, including Chico. In 1978, Jessica decided to change careers and moved to Chico and started her very successful real estate career at Fran Shelton Realty, where she worked for approximately four years. In 1982, she began working for DuFour Realty and continued with that firm until her retirement in 2009. From 1986 to 2006, Jessica was one of the top ten annual sales associates at DuFour, including achieving the number one sales associate position at least six times. In 1987, Jessica served as the President of the Chico Board of Realtors. In 1989, she was named Realtor Associate of the Year by the Board of Realtors. In 2009, she was awarded the Chico Association of Realtors President's Award for her service to the real estate profession in Chico. In 1982, she married Michael Orr of Chico, and while they later divorced, they continued a successful real estate development partnership which included the development of a number of properties in and around Chico, and two subdivisions within the Canyon Oaks development east of Chico. Jessica will be greatly missed by her many dear friends in Chico, and the staff at Amber Grove Place Memory Care Center who provided her with such wonderful care as she dealt with the effects of Alzheimer's. A private burial will be held at the Glen Oaks Memorial Park in south Chico. Due to current coronavirus restrictions, planning for a memorial service for Jessica will be deferred to a future date after those restrictions are lifted. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jessica's memory may be made to the UC San Francisco Memory Center at makeagift.ucsf.edu/brain, or the Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org. Arrangements are under the direction of Brusie Funeral Home.