Roll Call Tribute

Published in Dallas Morning News on Nov. 2, 2014

Jennifer Ramirez(1969 - 2014)
RAMIREZ, Jennifer Sloan (Meadows) The remarkable life of Jennifer Ramirez, 44, of Rowlett, TX is worthy of celebration. Born on Christmas Day of 1969 to JC and Lynda Meadows, in Charlotte, NC, she graduated from South Meklenburg High School in 1988. She matriculated first at Richland College, and transferred to Texas A&M. Jennifer studied psychology and English at A & M, class of 1992. She taught in Garland Independent School District, at Naaman Forest High School for 18 years, until congestive heart failure forced her to give up her calling. Everywhere Jennifer went, and during each season of her life, she was beloved by those around her. Jennifer passed away at Baylor Hospital on October 27, 2014. Her greatest gift, and perhaps worst quality were one and the same-her selfless devotion to others. Jennifer was never too tired or sick to respond to just one more email, text or call. She would often stay up until the wee hours of the night to grade a paper or write a teacher recommendation for a student with collegiate aspirations. An aficionado of social media, she kept in constant contact with hundreds of people on a regular basis. Jennifer continued to tutor and mentor former students, long after their graduation from NFHS. She always had time to correct one more paper, and edit one more resume. Jennifer delighted in hearing the stories of achievements and milestones of her former students, friends, family, and their children as generations passed. Selfless in both life and death, her mantra was, Carpe Diem. Jennifer was an outgoing and social creature by nature. She was high spirited and whimsical in youth, and grew later to be a thoughtful and analytical woman of incredible intellect and knowledge. Jennifer was opinionated and frequently gave advice, regardless of the willingness of her audience. She did so always out of love. Jennifer was feisty, scrappy and sassy. Her messages were delivered with good humor and an open mind. Jennifer took the time to understand an issue, a person's plight, or a situation. Prior to her illness, Jennifer was a fitness fanatic, as she often ran up to 10 miles a day. Those closest to her puzzled how one tiny mosquito bite, or one little virus could collapse a person known to be invincible. In addition, Jennifer was a rabid sports fan, and she reveled in Aggie anything. She was a pop culture junkie. Jennifer consumed trash TV and stalwart documentaries with the same regard. She was a voracious reader. Ultimately, out of any media she consumed, Jennifer found some life lesson or some greater truth for mankind. She was a devotee of music. Her tastes were primarily indie in nature, and spanned from 80's new wave bands like The Smiths to contemporary bands like Jimmy Eat World with a healthy dose of REM along the way. Jennifer had an uncanny knack of ferreting out song lyrics and meaning. Jennifer's heart was that of a poet's at her core. This often led her to alter song lyrics, the most notable of which may be Jimi Hendrix's "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire." Although the original afore-mentioned song lyric is Move over, Rover/Let Jimmy Take Over. Those who knew her have since corrected the song to Move over, Rover/Let Jenni Take Over. Jennifer owned her mistakes, and lovingly challenged others to do the same. Perhaps this came from the fact she wasn't the kind of teacher that taught to the test. Standardized testing meant little to Jennifer. She valued character, and that has proven to be perhaps the most important trait many of her students gained from her classes. Aside from the multitude of former students, one teenager meant the most to Jennifer, her only child, Mason, age 16. Even in the throes of illness, her entire spirit would lift when anything about Mason came into conversation. She, for obvious reasons, emphasized education. Mason is involved in so many things, and all brought joy to her life. Jennifer remarked that Mason had an impossible task, that of a teacher's kid. As her illness closed in on her body, Jennifer was no longer to attend Mason's soccer games. Pictures and video weren't the same. Although a throng of humanity misses Jennifer, Mason was her priority. Jennifer felt strongly that if she was not able to be here physically, she wanted to spend eternity with her family. Although Jennifer originally described herself as being an atheist, after the birth of her son, she spiritually identified as agnostic. Even so, she had myriad intellectual doubts as to the existence of God, and moreover towards an organized belief. In the waning months of her life, Jennifer accepted Christ as her Savior. She prayed daily, not for herself, but for others. As she kept an ongoing conversation going with numerous Christian friends, in the end, she embraced Christ. This brought her as much peace as possible. Jennifer is survived by her husband of almost 21 years, Juan, and son Mason. Her parents, JC and Lynda of Garland stood bravely by their only child during her illness, until the very end. Jennifer has a tremendous extend-ed family that stretches from Juan's family in San Antonio to kin in North Carolina, including her "twin" cousin, Karen. Jennifer also left behind her constant companions in the last few years, Snickers, "Snick" a Yorkshire terrier, and a cat, Tommy. Jennifer leaves behind aforementioned friends and former students, all who felt her love and wisdom working in their lives. All who knew her felt a kindred spirit. Jennifer appreciated every single kindness and effort of the staff of the Heart Hospital of Baylor. She was absolutely devoted and cherished all JC and Lynda did for her. She had comfort in her marriage with Juan. She loved Mason with every fiber of her being. In the end, Jennifer was loved, but she loved and gave more to this earthly life than she received. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the American Heart Association .