MONROE – Bright sunshine slipped through windows and stained glass into St. Mary of the Valley.
The gorgeous weather was a tribute to Genevieve Jelinek, who warmed people’s hearts and found joy in helping others, said the Rev. Patrick Twohy, presiding over the Sultan woman’s funeral.
“It’s the energy of her love. That was the light within her,” Twohy told the assembled crowd of 300 friends and family.
Friends and neighbors on Friday celebrated the life of Jelinek, 65, who died in a crossover crash on U.S. 2 on May 2 east of Monroe.
She was the 44th person killed in an accident on the highway between Snohomish and Stevens Pass since 1999.
The large turnout didn’t surprise Clyde Jelinek, who was married to Genevieve Jelinek for nearly 49 years.
“My heart is filled with joy for the way she touched everyone. They came here to tell everything about it,” Clyde Jelinek said.
The Jelinek family sat in the front row and heard people speak of the legacy Genevieve Jelinek left behind.
“This is what unconditional love does,” John Jelinek, her son, said. “She gave, gave, gave.”
As a wife, Jelinek inspired her husband. As a mother of two sons, she showed a way to serve the community. As a nurse at a Monroe hospital, she tended the injured, including many who got hurt in U.S. 2 crashes.
As a volunteer, Jelinek pitched in whenever and wherever she saw a need. She was one of the first female volunteer firefighters in Sultan. She served on the town’s chamber of commerce. She helped to save the town’s medical clinic in 2003.
Jelinek, born in Trenton, N.J., settled in Sultan 32 years ago.
She supported the Sultan High School soccer team for years, donating shoes and jerseys and rooting for players.
“Season after season after season,” Sultan Mayor Ben Tolson said to the crowd.
“Players changed,” he said. “But the person who was encouraging was always there. She knew how important (it was) for those players to be encouraged.”
During the service, Tolson read a poem written by Lauren Jelinek for her grandmother. The poem was called “The Photographer.” Jelinek loved taking photographs.
“We always see the pictures you take,” part of the poem read. “Yet hardly see any of you. The smiles from the pictures were never fake. All the smiles were because of you.”
Jelinek always cared about the community and took action to make it better, people who knew her said.
“The love has not died,” Dr. Mark Raney, a physician at Sky Valley Family Medicine in Sultan. “It’s a challenge. She challenges every one of us to carry her work.”
A bagpiper ushered people outside at the end of the two-hour service. One by one, they stepped into the parking lot under an unbelievably blue sky.
Friends gathered around Clyde Jelinek and took turns embracing him and offering condolences.
“My lady is gone,” he said, taking comfort in a friend’s arms.
People got in their cars, drove through Monroe and out onto U.S. 2, passing roadside memorials for others who died on the highway.
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