Plymouth State University held a memorial service in memory of Jena Pothier on Wednesday, September 16. Pothier had just completed her first year at PSU when she died as a result of a car accident in her hometown of Oak Bluffs, Mass. on June 11. The service began with a prayer, reminding all in attendance how much Pothier was loved and remembered here at PSU. “We are here today to express to Jena’s family, her mother Terri, her father David, her brother DJ, her Grandmother and others our sorrows for their loss.” She said, “For us too, there is a sense of loss and confusion. We at Plymouth State have lost a student, for some of us a roommate, a friend, a sorority sister. Someone of enormous potential, someone with a contagious laugh, someone with whom people laughed and by whose side they worked and created,” PSU President Sara Jayne Steen said. Vice President of Student Affairs Dick Hage also made a moving speech, “Jena was a gift in our lives, there are many fond memories to recall, yet we know that in doing so today, that can be deeply painful now, so we look to heaven in this time of great loss to find meaning and comfort here on earth, and we know that healing comes in small steps, one kindness at a time, each of us being here for the others.” More fond memories of Jena came from her friends, her sorority sisters from XAZ. Their anecdotes about how Pothier brought smiles to the many sorrowful faces throughout the crowd. “She would go out on many a Friday night wearing sweatpants,” One of Pothier’s XAZ sisters recalls with a laugh, “no matter how many times my friends and I would try to convince her to put on jeans”
The one trait that she was remembered most for, her laugh. Every speaker mentioned her robust, contagious laughter that was so disproportionate to her small body. ” Jena’s laugh, the most distinctive in the world, as one close friend described it, the bigger than her five foot frame body full of life laugh that caused everyone around her to burst into involuntary laugher.” Hage said. The most touching of moments, however, was when one of her friends read a poem Pothier had written when she was thirteen entitled, “I am,” She wrote, “I understand that life is short/I say live life to the fullest/I dream of a carefree world/I try to leave my mark/I hope to leave this judgmental path/I am small trying to break free from this simple world Jena’s family has asked that those wishing to honor Jena’s memory may do so by donating to either the Kevin Johnson Scholarship Fund, c/o MV Regional High School, P.O. Box 1385, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557; or M.V. Drive for Life, P.O. Box 3354, Edgartown, MA 02539.