Parker Burman-
The Gustavus community will forever remember the life and legacy of Jori Jones, somebody who will forever be a Gustie. Classmates, peers, teammates, coaches and faculty will always remember the spark of joy that Jori brought into their lives and the cheerful memories that she was a part of.
Some of her teammates and coaches with the Gustavus Women’s Hockey team were willing to share stories, tidbits and memories that they were blessed to have shared with Jori.
“I think my favorite memory of Jori is us just having fun in Aberdeen, South Dakota. I didn’t know it at the time, but it would be the last thing me and Jori did together and I will forever be grateful for the awesome last two days we had. We were just singing at the concert and didn’t have a worry in the world. Her smile and laugh and everything she did was contagious and I had a great time with her over the weekend. I will cherish that weekend for the rest of [my] life,” Sophomore Lily Mortenson said.
“She was very driven in school and in sports, and was somebody we all should look up to because of her work ethic and her persistence. She spent countless hours with me in an open classroom in Nobel to get homework and studying done,” Sophomore Anika Mader said.
“Jori was always known to have sour candy with her wherever she went, which was always so funny to us and the rest of the team. She sometimes ate only sour candy for lunch. She was also very artistic and free-spirited. She really enjoyed stopping to take photos of the sunsets, flowers, and anything she found to be worth making memories of. She spent lots of time in the Arb, reading or hammocking, or [sometimes she] even just sat there with her own thoughts. She loved being outdoors and made sure to include us any time she wanted to go talk and catch up, and most of the time it was in the Arb,” Mader said.
“Jori meant a lot to us all and we all have different connections to her. For me, JJ was my lab partner and teammate. We worked together on Chem and Bio labs for many many hours last year and hustled to practice shortly after those labs. One memory that I enjoy of Jori is when we were in Chem lab extracting essential oils and her sample boiled over into her extract which meant she had to start over after a good hour of extracting. Her frustration was amusing. Once our lab instructor got her set up again, she was able to complete her extraction. We were both left with a fraction of a gram of essential oil. While we waited for a scale to open up to weigh our finished product, she left the wooden stir stick that kept her sample from boiling over in her flask. When she grabbed her flask to weigh, the essential oils were gone. The stick had absorbed the oil. I remember many more moments with Jori but I find it very hard to explain them. It doesn’t feel like anything can really capture who she was as a person but I want to share because she truly was special and it should be known how awesome she really was,” Sophomore Lindsay Berggren kindly shared.
When asked about Jori’s time on the hockey team, Women’s Hockey Coach Mike Carroll had the following to say: “She was going to have a lot of different opportunities [on our team] and as we kept in touch and as our roster needs got solidified in the sense that we knew exactly what we needed, she was still open. We got her down here for a visit, [she] and her dad came down, we had a great visit and she had her priorities in order, both academic goals and her hockey goals. I gave her a lot of credit for making the choice to come to Gustavus. We had some experience here already, so she was going to have to come in here and learn and get behind some kids and earn some playing time but we thought she had a very bright future.”
“I am learning more and more about Jori and her relationship with her teammates. Being a Freshman, as a head coach sometimes it takes you a little longer to get some interaction going and feel comfortable, but your relationship grows over the year. What I do remember was that she was very respectful, always said ‘Hi, Coach’, and always had a smile on her face all the time. She was very mature, and she took her classes very seriously. She wasn’t getting many opportunities to play but when Maria got injured, she got pushed up into the backup role and she handled that very well,” said Coach Carroll.
With the help of donations, a bench has been placed in the Arboretum in Jori’s honor along with the planting of a tree in her honor. The Women’s Hockey team will also have a framed jersey in the Don Roberts Arena to honor Jori as well. Let us never forget the smiles that Jori put on our faces and the memories that we will cherish forever. Jori Jones is and always will be a Gustie forever.