Valley To Remember Jackie Lee Houston Today

Coachella Valley residents are expected to turn out in large numbers Friday to pay their respects to Palm Springs philanthropist and local television station owner Jackie Lee Houston.

Houston will be remembered in a public service Friday, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Her family asked for donations to one of many charities she supported, in lieu of flowers, according to her station, KPSP Local 2.

Houston -- who died last Tuesday at the Eisenhower Medical Center following a stroke -- was 76 and had been battling pancreatic cancer, Palm Springs city spokeswoman Amy Blaisdell said.

"She was a wonderful lady who could always be counted on to help those in need, and she cared deeply for the Palm Springs community she called home for so many years,'' Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet said.

Houston and her husband co-owned Palm Springs-area television station KPSP, the Coachella Valley's CBS affiliate usually referred to as KPSP Local 2.

Houston raised money for the FIND Food Bank, AIDS Assistance Program, Stroke Recovery Center, Angel View Crippled Children's Hospital and many other Coachella Valley nonprofits. She also served on the board of in Palm Desert.

She also chaired the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala, Blaisdell said.

In 1999, she received a star on the Walk of Stars in front of the Palm
Springs Art Museum -- between the stars of presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

Jackie Lee McDonald was born and raised in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington, where she was a member of the Alpha Phi Sorority's Sigma chapter. She pursued a career in fashion modeling and design and was a local weather reporter in Seattle before marrying James Houston, who would become a prominent real estate developer.

She is survived by her husband, three children and grandchildren.

People can sign condolence books at the Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage public libraries, and on kpsplocal2.com, the website of Houston's television station.

City News Service contributed to this report.