Jennifer Ann Friel

On 6/19/2024, God welcomed a new Nurse into Heaven. After four hard months of struggle, Jen succumbed to the ravages of cancer. Her husband Bob and her Sister-n-law Kim were at her side as she passed away.

Jen was born in Westlake Village, CA, and reared in the neighboring town of Agoura Hills, CA. She attended Liberty Canyon Chistian School, Lindero Canyon Middle School and Agoura Hills High School, from which she graduated, with Honors, 5/1993.

In her Senior year of High School, she met the love of her life, Bob Friel at a Church Youth Group in Thousand Oaks, CA. Bob had just graduated from Thousand Oaks High School and inquired about Jen with one of the Youth Group leaders, who gave Jen his highest endorsement. What Bob did not know at that time is that the Youth Group leader was, in fact, Jen’s brother, Scott.

Bob and Jen dated throughout her Senior High School year, after which she enrolled at Questa College in San Luis Obispo, CA, where she began a very long journey toward becoming a Nurse. Meanwhile, Bob was completing his second year at Moorpark College and was looking toward completing his studies at a four year school. After some careful consideration, Bob chose the University of Colorado at Denver where he continued his studies, 8/1994. By that time Bob and Jen were becoming quite serious in their relationship, so Jen also moved to Denver to be near Bob and subsequently continued her undergraduate studies at the Community College of Denver. Bob and Jen continued their relationship and he subsequently proposed to her in 1995. Jen was also employed at the 1st Bank of Colorado while she was attending school and when they offered her a significant promotion, she chose to drop out of school to pursue her alternative career in banking, while Bob continued working as a Support Employee for the FBI in Denver.

Following Bob’s graduation from the University of Colorado, 05/1996, he and Jen began planning their wedding back in California, and were married 5/18/1996, in Westlake Village, CA. Shortly thereafter, they returned to Denver, where they set up household in Littleton, CO. Bob subsequently accepted a job as a Police Officer with the Aurora, CO, Police Department, 2/1998, and Jen continued working as a Loan Officer for 1st Bank.

Three months later Bob and Jen announced that they were to be parents, and on 2/10/1999, they welcomed Jordan Robert into their family. In short order, they announced that there was another “bundle of joy” on the way and on 9/17/2001, they welcomed Taiyler Ann, who arrived in the midst of the turmoil following the attacks on the New York, World Trade Center, 9/11/2001. Jen always swore that the stress following the 9/11 attack caused Taiyler to come early.

After Taiyler’s arrival, Jen left her job at 1st Bank and concentrated on raising her family. But her dream of becoming a nurse was still in the back of her mind. In the meantime, in 2005, she accepted a job as the Finance Manager for a Missionary Non-profit, Health Education, Africa Resource Team (HEART), which was founded by her Aunt Vickie Winkler, in Nairobi, Kenya. This was a good job for her as she could work from home and still be available to mother her two growing kids.

Around 2005, Bob and Jen made a major life decision to add to their family by adopting a child from China. After several false starts, and additional timing issues caused by the 2006 Olympics in Beijing, China, that dream finally became a reality, and in February 2009, Bob, Jen and Jordan flew to China to claim their beautiful new seven month old daughter, Kenna Joy Ying Friel.

The next eight years were filled with myriad activities including Jordan’s basketball games, Taiyler’s gymnastics training and Kenna’s gymnastic competitions. In the last two years of her life Jen became an enthusiastic “Cheer Mom” in support of Kenna’s activities as member of her High School Varsity Cheer Squad.

When Kenna completed her elementary school classes in 2008, Jen made another monumental decision to go back to school to pursue her long-time dream of becoming a Nurse. She subsequently enrolled in the Nursing Program at Arapahoe Community College and in May 2020, she achieved that dream by earning her Registered Nursing (RN) Certification and began work as an RN at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, CO. During her first year as a Nurse, Jen continued her Nursing education and earned her Bachelor of Nursing Degree from the University of Colorado.

Jen spent three years as an RN at Sky Ridge and was promoted to Charge Nurse in the Mom / Baby Unit after only two years, where she supervised six other nurses. In February 2023, Jen accepted the position of Nursing Supervisor for Greenwood Pediatric Clinic in Littleton, CO, where she worked until she was diagnosed with the cancer that claimed her life.

Jen was a highly accomplished woman who excelled at everything she attempted. She was blessed with a brilliant mind and a compassionate heart who blessed many people in her time on earth. She is survived by her husband Bob, a Senior Investigator for the 18th Judicial District, Centennial, CO; her son Jordan, currently serving with the USAF at Hill AFB, UT; her daughter Taiyler, currently serving as a Missionary with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) in Nepal, and Kenna, a Junior at a local High School. She is also survived by her mother Beverly Brown, her stepfather, Harry “Mick” Brown and her brother, Scott and step-brothers, Alan and Kevin Brown and their families.