Jennifer Marie Baxter

Jennifer Marie Baxter, September 14, 1991 – January 23, 2017. Jennifer was born in Alameda County, California at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. She is youngest of three children born to Paul and Lisa Baxter. She first lived at Fort Ord (Monterey) California where her Dad was stationed with the US Army. At the age of four Jennifer moved to Germany. She entered grade school along with other children of military families while living in Wiesbaden Germany. Her travels while in Germany that she remembers includes Holland, the Black Forest, Austria and Paris. These trips included a walking tour of Anne Frank’s house, hiking through German salt mines and sledding in the Austria Alps, a train ride to Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tower. In particular she fondly remembers the sledding trip in the Alps.

Jennifer returned to the United States in 1998 with her family who eventually settled in her mother’s hometown of Merced in 1999. Jennifer continued her schooling first at Pioneer Elementary then Weaver Union School and graduated in 2009 from Golden Valley High School. After graduating from high school Jennifer was hired as an After School Program (ASP) Assistant with the Merced County Office of Education. During her 6 years with the After School Program she worked at Hoover Middle School and was presently assigned at Burbank Elementary.

While working as an ASP Assistant Jennifer attended classes at Merced College. After a couple of semesters she decided that a degree wasn’t for her and enrolled in Adrian’s Beauty College in Turlock to pursue her manicurist license. She earned her State license as a Manicurist and worked in a couple of salons in Merced but really settled in at Salon on the Square. It is there her passion and creativity as a manicurist showed. She never hesitated to learn new techniques and develop her own style which lead to her success as a manicurist.

In April 2015 Jennifer was diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer of her stomach. At the time it was diagnosed, the cancer had already spread to her lymph system. Treatment for this type of cancer is limited and hasn’t had much success. She continued to work as an ASP Assistant and Manicurist as she started a regiment of chemotherapy at UCSF Hospital at Mission Bay in San Francisco.

Throughout her battle with cancer, Jennifer had a fantastic spirit and strength that amazed those who knew her and love her. Despite the horrible prognosis from the beginning, Jennifer had always put her best foot forward and a smile on her face, more concerned with the needs of others from her family and friends to her students at Burbank Elementary. She celebrated the small good fortunes she had since her diagnosis but also sadly faced the dim prospects of her future.

She was engaged to be married to Jake Valencia, her boyfriend of 5 years, who proposed to her on Thanksgiving at her family’s gathering. She is survived by her parents, Paul and Lisa Baxter. She will be greatly missed by her brothers Joshua and Jacob Baxter, nephews, Ethan, Eli and Evan Baxter and niece, Audrina Baxter as well as her grandmother, Cecilia Medina, grandfather, Joe Chavez, and her many uncles, aunts and cousins.

A celebration of life with be held on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 9:30 am at New Life Apostolic Church, 2427 E. Santa Fe Ave, Merced 95340, preceded by visitation starting at 8:00 am.

Memorials can be made to the American Cancer Society at Cancer.org or the Alexander Cohen Hospice House, 2201 Euclid Ave, Hughson CA 95326.

Arrangements under the direction of Stratford Evans Merced Funeral Home, Merced, CA.