 LOPEZ, JERILYN MARIE (MILLER) November 17, 1959 -- March 29, 2013 Albuquerque Jerilyn Marie Lopez, sweet wife, beloved mother, cherished daughter, protective sister, loving and committed teacher, delightfully clever jokester and well-known cat lover, died peacefully in the early morning of Good Friday, March 29, 2013. Jerilyn was born and raised in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where she and her family enjoyed the near-by White Sands National Monument where her and her father would find glow-in-the-dark scorpions, hunted for arrow heads in the desert, and explored the Trinity Site before it was closed to the public. Later, the family moved to Germany where Jerilyn's natural good looks landed her modeling jobs for German newspapers and magazines. She earned enough from her modeling jobs to buy a new bike. Shortly after, her parents put a stop to the modeling for fear it would interfere with her schooling. As Jerilyn grew older her mother's cosmopolitan tastes emerged and she enjoyed with college friends the excitement of Anaheim, California, Washington D.C. and other large cities. She also enjoyed her family's hometown of Portland, Oregon, taking in the fresh salt air of the Oregon coast and enjoying the juicy blackberries that grow there in abundance. Jerilyn inherited her mother's artistic skills and comic timing, skills which she used to entertain, amuse and embarrass those she loved-the caricatures were spot-on incredible. Jerilyn also hated raisins and couldn't understand why people ruined perfectly good rum ice cream and oatmeal cookies by adding raisins. However, her husband-to-be loved raisins a match made in heaven. Jerilyn met her husband while being one of his students-drop the phone to the gossip line-because they began dating only after she had graduated as she had being seeing someone else while she was in school and first met her husband's acquaintance. She had finally met the love of her life and she was very happy to marry him. Later on she had two beautiful children: one girl, Danae Lopez, and one boy, Jordan Lopez. Her children became her best friends and her children saw her as their champion, their cheerleader, their fellow jokester, and their mentor whom they will love eternally. She will always be carried in her family's hearts. One of her regrets was not seeing a woman, Hillary Clinton, elected President. She voted for Obama not only once -but twice. She wanted everyone to know that "Obamacare" kept her family from declaring medical bankruptcy due to her battling cancer. She had a life-long love affair with classical music and was able to teach herself how to play varying and different musical instruments. Celtic and Moroccan drums, Irish dulcimer, Kalimba (African thumb piano) were some of the musical instruments she enjoyed. She enjoyed seeing cranes and other birds at the Bosque del Apache, Rio Grande boulevard and Alamo farm open space. This was just one of many activities that she took part in that were a testament to her love for nature. During these outings, she preferred driving home via Rio Grande Boulevard -she called it the "Zen" way home. Jerilyn's wish was to be cremated and her ashes spread in the wild, serene places in nature, as well as the places that were near and dear to her. A traditional "Irish wake" -as traditional as her Hispanic husband can manage-will be held in her honor in about a year's time. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make donations to one of Jerilyn's favorite charities -some of Jerilyn's favorite charities included ASPCA, Oxfam, the ACR (Alley Cat Rescue) and the Sierra Club. And this isn't a good-bye to Jerilyn. This is just a "See you later."
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