Obituary of Jewelie Anne Mendenhall

Jewelie Anne Mendenhall departed this life on July 31, 2012, at her apartment in Santa Cruz, California. She was 36 years old. Jewelie arrived on this planet in Mountain View, California, on the 31st day of March, 1976. Her parents and grandparents welcomed her arrival with love and excitement as she would hold a special place in their hearts as the first child and the first grandchild. As the years went by, Jewelie grew into a beautiful and determined young woman. Her life and what she set her sights on to achieve in it always reflected her passions: clothes and fashion, hair styling, dance, movement, exercise, and her love of people. Her love affair with clothes and fashion began very early in her life. At the age of eight months, Jewelie would almost daily pull clothes out of her dresser, surrounding herself with them, despite the drawer latches. She also had very definite ideas about what colors she wanted to wear, brown not being one of them, which she made very clear at the tender age of five years old. Throughout her life, Jewelie chose clothes and fashions that were as vibrant, colorful, and distinctive as she was and that accentuated all the assets with which she had been blessed. She extended that love of fashion to others, helping her mom and sister with their fashion choices, always with the intention of making them look their best. Jewelie's love of hair styling began early, too. She was only a year old when she insisted that she had to have a whole card of 14 barrettes fastened in her hair. She proceeded, then, to model the new sweater her great grandmother had made for her with her hair full of barrettes, turning round and round to be admired by her parents and her grandparents as she gave her first fashion show. Her desire to create attractive hair styles coupled with her great fashion sense resulted in Jewelie's determination to become a hairstylist, and she became an amazing one! She had a knack for color correction and fixed the hair for many a tearful client who had chosen some kind of funky color to apply at home but which had gone horribly wrong. Jewelie was one of those stylists that could look at you and choose just the right style. She was also ready to walk the adventure with you if you decided you wanted something very different, even avant-garde. She took cutting hair seriously and participated in many classes, learning new skills and techniques that she quickly added to her hair styling repertoire, making her clients so happy and proud that she was their hairstylist. Another longstanding passion Jewelie had was dancing, and she was fantastic, talented, and skilled in whatever style of dance she chose. From swing and hip hop, to ballet and burlesque, Jewelie excelled at them all, even though she did not begin dancing until she was a young adult. Her mom will never forget the Christmas parade at the Twin Lakes Boat Harbor in which several teenage girls were dressed in lovely and delicate ballerina costumes, elegantly swaying to the strains of the Nutcracker Suite as the boat glided through the water. Such a chilly evening, but there was a 16-year-old Jewelie, gracefully moving as if she had been dancing her whole life. That evening foreshadowed what would eventually become such an important, fulfilling, and beautiful part of Jewelie's life. This love of movement also extended to exercise and staying in shape. Whether running, walking, doing yoga or Pilates, working out at the gym, or attending dance classes, Jewelie was active. In recent years, she had even become a Pilates instructor, showing her clients how to get more in touch with their bodies and their core to help them stay in shape. Throughout her life, Jewelie loved and cared about people. She always had a flair for the dramatic in her life and in her relationships but inside she was a sensitive soul who wanted to love others and have them love her. She lived her life with passion and generosity and did her best to let people know she thought highly of them and considered them important and influential in her life. Jewelie's passing has left a massive void in the lives of all her clients, friends, and family. She will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her but most especially by her dad, Ken Mendenhall; her brother, Kenny Mendenhall; her sister, Sarah Jane Mendenhall; and her niece, Skyla Lynn Mendenhall, who all live in Santa Cruz and saw her regularly. Her mother, Vicky Lynn Macchione, who lives in Canada, will miss the hour-long "Hi, Mom; it's Jewels" phone conversations, the quickly texted update emails, and having her hair styled in the way only Jewelie could do it. Other family members who will always remember Jewelie with love and appreciation include Phyllis Mendenhall, her grandmother; Ray and Linda Mendenhall, her uncle and aunt, who all reside in Bakersfield; and her cousins, Leslie Kopp, Cindy Malone, Matthew Mendenhall, and Taylor Mendenhall. Jewelie will also be affectionately remembered by those family members who lived closer to Santa Cruz: Debby Lee Macchione, her aunt from Sunnyvale; Daniel Smith, her uncle from San Jose; and Melissa Smith, Elaina Smith, and Christopher Smith, her cousins from San Jose. All of us who knew and loved Jewelie wish her Godspeed on her journey and hope that she knows how much she meant to each of us. Her friends and family will gather on Saturday, August 18, 2012, at 11 AM to commemorate her life. The service will take place at Monschke Hall, Twin Lakes Church, 2701 Cabrillo College Drive in Aptos. A reception will follow the service, and everyone is invited to share their memories of and experiences with Jewelie.