Jordan’s Story

Jordan was an athlete and singer since the age of 5 when she started playing sports and singing in the Vancouver, WA area. She enjoyed playing soccer, basketball, volleyball, and softball. She loved the outdoors and enjoyed family camping trips, fishing, and motorcycle riding. Softball became a passion at a young age and started pitching when she was 9 years old. She played competitively as part of Team Faith Fastpitch, a club team that traveled to tournaments in the Northwest, continuing to play ball at Prairie High School, Blue Mountain Community College, and Northwest Christian University. She had the opportunity to travel with Washington Culture Exchange to Hong Kong and China where the team representing the U.S. taught sports camps to the youth and played softball. She unfortunately fractured her leg and ankle during a game, hampering her trip but insisted on staying with the team and participating using a wheelchair to see the sites. Although devastated she would miss her senior year of high school softball, she cheered her team on and worked hard to recover and was determined to play at college. She ultimately did go on the play softball in college, although the path looked a little different than originally planned.

Jordan coached numerous girls’ softball teams after college and was the pitching coach for Umatilla High School. In her spare time, she gave private pitching lesson to girls in the Pendleton, Hermiston, and Umatilla area.

Jordan’s other passion was music and singing. She spent many summers singing mini concerts at the Clark County Fair, was a member of jazz choirs at Prairie High School, Blue Mountain Community College, and Northwest Christian University. She sang the national anthem at many local and regional events since a young age and was a regular at the Pendleton Round-Up which she was always excited to do. She was proud to be selected and to sing as an opening act of a Kelly Pickler concert in Colorado during a softball tournament where she sang a softball inspired version of ‘Here For The Party’ by Gretchen Wilson.

Jordan went on to obtain her Bachelor of Education degree from Northwest Christian University and went on to obtain her Master of Education while coaching softball at BMCC and working in Pendleton.

Jordan taught 3rd grade for the Umatilla School District at McNary Heights Elementary for six years. She loved teaching and was known for her teaching Tik-Tok videos. Her classrooms were a fun and engaging environment and skilled at making learning fun. She loved her students and worked hard to engage and help the struggling students succeed. She struggled in school herself, particularly in math and science, and used those struggles to alter her teaching techniques to reach her students. She was known for her daily classroom affirmations that her kids would recite.

In February of 2023, a large ovarian tumor was discovered, and Jordan was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. She fought a fierce battle like a warrior, more concerned with her students than her health and determined to get back to the classroom and softball field. She was able to participate in the school cancer awareness softball game which was dedicated to her which she so enjoyed seeing her girls. Due to organ complications, she passed away June 3, 2023, at the age of 31, entering the gates of heaven.

From tragedy comes hope.

Teacher, coach, friend, and mentor. Jordan’s impact on the many students, friends and colleagues was significant as her family discovered. Jordan’s true passion was kids and helping them to believe in themselves and succeed. To continue that legacy her family has created this Legacy Foundation to honor Jordan and to fulfill her dreams of helping kids succeed.