Jennifer Lynn-Marie Lenihan

“Seeing is believing.” For many, those words simply represent a motto. But for Jennifer Lynn-Marie Lenihan, it summarized in every way who she was. She was modest, quiet and observant, taking in everything around her and always thinking before acting. She was a realist, someone who was efficient and practical in everything she did. She was a friendly person who truly cared about those around her.

Jennifer was born on February 1, 1974 at Garfield Hospital in Monterey Park, California. She was the daughter of Larry and Linda Lenihan and later her step-father Manuel Jaramillo. Raised in San Gabriel Valley, California, she was brought up to be tolerant and trustworthy. As a child, she learned to be conscientious, responsible and punctual. These were all traits that she would carry with her throughout her life.

As a young girl, Jennifer was always aware of how others around her felt and this quality served her well. With a deep capacity to tolerate the feelings of others, Jennifer was generally able to avoid conflicts. It seemed as if Jennifer was the family member who was always working to keep stress at bay. Preferring a quiet environment where she could concentrate, Jennifer also had the ability to relate well with her family and friends. Jennifer was raised with 2 siblings. She had one older brother, Mike and one younger sister Lupe. Jennifer was constantly involved in activities with her family. Jennifer and her siblings had the typical rivalries while growing up but they deeply cared for each other and shared many life experiences over the years.

Growing up, Jennifer was one of those children who didn’t need to be in the center of a whirlwind of activity. She was content to entertain herself. Jennifer was never pushy when it came to games and other activities, but rather, she was able to enjoy the pure fun these could bring. In just about everything she did as a child, Jennifer was intent on pleasing both the adults and the other children around her. Jennifer took part in a number of activities as a child. She took part in baseball and was a cheerleader. In her spare time she liked playing with Barbie dolls; was a collector even as an adult. Jennifer's memorable achievements included being a straight "A" student, traveled across the U. S. and involved in various actives at Rio Hondo Prep.

Jennifer enjoyed learning. She always had a great memory and was particularly skilled at retaining factual information. Jennifer was generally quiet in class, learning best through observation. She often showed great concentration and was competent at completing the tasks at hand. Good with details, Jennifer was painstaking and accurate in her efforts. All of these talents culminated in a successful high school career. Jennifer was home schooled and she graduated from Nueva Vista High School in 1992. Jennifer enjoyed some courses more than others, having favorite subjects..

Jennifer had a good disposition for the challenges of college. She always enjoyed reading, so all of those lengthy required reading assignments seemed to be less of a burden for her. In fact, Jennifer seemed to absorb and remember everything she read. Not all things came easily to Jennifer, however, and she found success by being a diligent and accurate person who would dig into a project and work through until it reached its completion. She was very thorough and labored long and hard in order to reach her goals. She earned her AA from Mt. SAC 1996, BFA from Cal State Fullerton 2000, graduated Cum Laude. She earned her Master of Education 2006 from University of La Verne. Her favorite courses were Life Drawing. Her favorite professor was Don Logenburg.

Most folks would say that Jennifer was shy until they got to know her. Those who were privileged to know her well learned that she was a solid, good friend. Jennifer was reluctant to generalize about people, and she based her friendships on her personal experiences. Because of this, Jennifer best trusted those people that she truly knew. She was concerned about how those around her felt, and she always seemed to uncover the positive side of people. She could relate to others and had the ability to see their point of view, to “walk a mile in their shoes,” as the saying goes. The friends that she made, Jennifer kept. While growing up, some of her best friends were Danielle. Later in life, she became friends with Alva Bergman, Jane and Raquel, the boys (Jesus, Nestor, Hugo, Marco, Fleezy and Johnny), her Poker group and her cats Louie and Lestat.

If you gave Jennifer a deadline, she would meet it. At work, Jennifer was always on task. Without hesitation, Jennifer could adhere to any assignment and see it through to its completion. Her primary occupation was Art teacher. She was employed for 12 years at Bassett High School. She loved teaching and remained in touch with her ex-students. During that time, Jennifer excelled in working with small groups in order to complete assignments. She was able to quickly grasp concrete ideas and could organize and plan the best way to accomplish things with remarkable consistency. Jennifer was good at staying on track and was considerate in listening to what others had to say. In this way, Jennifer had a true gift for being able to come up with practical resolutions to difficult problems. She was often the team member who managed to put forth a win/win solution for all parties.

Jennifer liked to experience things first hand, in addition to simply learning about them. This quality influenced Jennifer's choice of leisure time activities. A methodical and patient worker, Jennifer preferred to set aside uninterrupted time to work on her hobbies. Her favorite pursuits were travel, baking, painting, sculpture, reading, movies, video games, collecting Star Wars memorabilia, spending time with her nieces Stephanie and Alyssa Lenihan. Jennifer was content to sit quietly alone, enjoying her hobbies all by herself and could often be found just reading about her favorite pastimes.

While thorough and measured in her approach to things, Jennifer often liked to physically do things rather than just think about them. She was like that with sports. She also enjoyed the statistical data and the facts behind the sports. In this way, she was something of a sports fan and enjoyed watching hockey in her younger days and enjoyed playing Wii Tennis with "the Boys" when she got older. She was a fan of Rock music and loved playing Guitar Hero with her friends. One on her all time favorite bands was Guns N' Roses and she owned an impressive collection of music.

Due to her excellent organizational skills, Jennifer was a welcome addition to the professional and community organizations to which she belonged. Jennifer could bring established, successful methods to the discussion table, along with a generous helping of common sense. Jennifer was good at making and keeping schedules and never got bogged down in unnecessary details. Throughout her later years, Jennifer was an active member of the Bassett Olympian Boosters, Union Rep, Coach for Scholastic Decathlon, a chaperone for Europe trips at Bassett High School for several years.

An individual who respected and maintained traditional values, her faith was important to Jennifer. Her compassion, consideration and sympathy toward others was evident in her personal beliefs. She was a member of the Christian faith. During that time, she experienced being a chaperone for a religious retreat for teens.

Doing things to help others seemed to come naturally to Jennifer. She never set out to gain individual recognition, but the praise and accolades given her for her many and varied efforts throughout her life were well deserved. Some of her most prestigious awards included various art awards.

Anyone who traveled or went on vacation with Jennifer had smooth sailing. It was often taken for granted that she was the trip planner. She would start early and examine all of the possibilities, selecting the best and most effective options. Favorite vacations included Alaska, Germany, Paris, London, Ireland, Australia, road trips to New Mexico, Vancouver BC and two trips to Hawaii.

Her family was rounded out by her two cats Louie and Lestat. Jennifer was as loyal to her pets as they were to her.

Jennifer passed away at home on July 1, 2013 in Covina, California. She is survived by her mother Linda Lenihan-Jaramillo, stepfather Manuel Jaramillo, big brother Mike Lenihan and his wife Teresa Chavez, sister Lupe Corado and husband Jose Corado, nieces Stephanie and Alyssa Lenihan and Alexis Corado, best friend and sister-in-heart Alva Bergman and her cats Louie and Lestat. Services were held at St. Christopher Catholic Church. Jennifer was laid to rest at Holy Cross Cemetery in Pomona, California.

It is said that some people can’t see the forest for the trees. Jennifer was able to focus on each individual tree, tending to its needs, thus making the forest stronger as a whole. Jennifer was a trustworthy, pragmatic and sympathetic person, the kind of woman to whom everyone was drawn. She was beautiful on the outside and even more so on the inside. She was thorough and practical. Jennifer Lenihan was very literal with her words. You always knew where you stood with Jennifer. She loved seeing the pleasure on people's faces when she gave gifts, and she was very generous, but she was not a mushy card writer so you had to expect you were not going to get one from her. Her gifts spoke from the heart and responded directly to what she thought of the receiver. Her actions always spoke louder that words. She will be missed and remembered.