Media Wilson

Media Eyvonne Wilson was born on November 19, 1940 in Bowie, Texas, the fourth of six children born to Wiley Carter Jefferson and Jessie B. Jefferson (McCoy). On the morning of April 7, 2022, Media made her peaceful transition surrounded by her loving family. She is preceded in death by her parents, her son Brad Wilson, sisters Peggy Ann Gardner Gholson and Kay Francis Fleshman Duson, and brothers Thomas Lee Jefferson, Willie Lee Jefferson and Larry Allen Carter Jefferson.

A lifelong Catholic, she accepted Christ at an early age. She was baptized at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Chicago and was a member of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart in Ankeny for 30 years.

Media was raised in Chicago’s Hyde Park community and graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1958. Media worked for the United States Postal Service for 45 years, retiring in 2007.

Media’s marriage to Jerome Pyburn produced three children: Jerry, Wendy and Tanya. Her union with Mark Wilson produced Mark and Brad. She raised her family in Chicago, Illinois, Piscataway, New Jersey, and Hartford, Iowa.

Like her mother, Media knew her way around the kitchen and loved to cook and bake. She would whip up dishes like fried catfish and chicken that put smiles on everyone’s face. She also loved making bread pudding and held a closely guarded secret recipe for making dinner rolls. Fishing was another activity that brought much joy and peace to Media. She learned how to fish as a child and enjoyed going fishing with her oldest son Jerry’s family during the summer in Battle Lake, Minnesota. In addition to fishing and cooking, Media also enjoyed attending auctions on the weekends, a practice which rubbed off on her son, Mark. “This is where I found my love for estate sales and auction houses,” Mark says. Her baby sister, Mary Elizabeth, says Media was a wonderful sister. Mary remembers her older sister teaching her how to dance and making a red dress for her to wear on a date when they were teens. “I mean, she took care of me. She was the real big sister, the ideal big sister,” Mary says.

Media leaves to cherish her memory her sons Jerry (Sharon) Pyburn and Mark (Noel) Wilson; daughters Wendy Pyburn and Tanya LaCaze her sister Mary (Junious) Edler; grandchildren David LaCaze, Chantay LaCaze, Cassandra Pyburn, Justin Pyburn, Georgia Pyburn, Jerry Pyburn, Matt Kaskie, Gabriel Robinson, Elijah Robinson, Asher Robinson, Mary Durham, Ezra Wilson and Zurich Wilson; great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

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