How do you put into words the love and cherished memories of a life taken too soon?

“I just always looked up to her,” says Taylor Elm, a Roseville Area High School Sophomore. “She was a cool person.”

“Jori’s face is just imprinted in your mind, and it all comes rushing back, and it’s tough,” adds Craig Rosenthal, her former high school hockey coach. “The hockey community is tight. In times like these, we really lean on each other, and I think it got out there quickly how special Jori was, and a lot of people want to support her.”

Every person, at a Thursday night celebration of life at the Roseville area ice rink, was touched in some way by 19-year-old Jori Jones.  

Hundreds of people came to share stories and reminisce.

“Everybody knew her because of her beautiful smile,” says Gretchen Hopeman, President of Roseville Area Youth Hockey. “She was not only beautiful outside, she was beautiful inside, and that was a real testament to how her parents raised her.”

Jori, a goalie on the Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey team, died in a car crash in Chippewa County last month.

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Three of her teammates were hurt but survived.

“Disbelief,” Rosenthal says. “Obviously, things like that don’t sink in right away. But then when they do, it turns into grief and sorrow.”

There was no shortage of hugs and love.

Jori’s Division III National Championship ring and other mementos from her first year at Gustavus were on display.

“I just think Jori was such a great person, she touched so many people’s lives,” Taylor says. “This just shows how many people’s lives she did touch.”

Photographs and notes on display told the story of Jori’s hockey excellence at Roseville Area High School as well.

How she mentored other female athletes, from teens to ten-year-olds.

“She was strong and didn’t give up,” recalls Haley Rosenthal, a fourth grader at Falcon Heights Elementary. “Maybe if we were struggling with something, she’d say it’s okay, just get back up and then try it again.”

An image of Jori was posted over the hockey arena Thursday night.

Many attending the gathering wore their Roseville Raider jerseys.

Jori’s hockey number, 33, was prominently on display.

Hopeman says Jori was a life coach for many young people, recalling her time as a counselor at a horseback riding camp as an example.

A legacy that will live on.

“We’re all mourning the loss of her because of all the true essence she brought, not only to the position of goalie, but to our community,” Hopeman says. “Every time she would have a group of kids, she would write a handwritten note and make them a bracelet for their good job for the week. And if that doesn’t show you at 19 what kind of person she was, I don’t know what would. Pretty special.”