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Patricia "Patti" Jenkins

1957 - 2009

On behalf of NAMI Metropolitan Houston, we wish to express our sincere condolences to Phil Jenkins and family on the loss of Patricia "Patti" Jenkins on July 19, 2009. Phil Jenkins, as a criminal attorney, has tirelessly advocated for persons with mental illness. We are extremely grateful to him for the many consumers and their families that have been represented and assisted in the justice system. Phil and Patti were married for 23 years and have three children and one grandchild. Patti was a teacher and spent the majority of her career passing on her enthusiasm and passion for theatre. "Patti will be missed daily - but we were so lucky to have her for as long as we did. The world is a better place because she was in it."

Jake McClain Driver 

Our beloved and precious JAKE MCCLAIN DRIVER, age 26, left us on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, as a result of mental illness, which finally overtook him. He is survived by his father and stepmother, Mickey and Debbie Driver, his mother, Anne Bellamy, his stepbrother, Billy Turrentine, stepsister, Holly Beauchamp, and other extended family members, all of Houston. He is also survived by his paternal grandmother, Nell Driver, uncles, Jim Driver, Don Driver, Gary Driver, Terry Driver, and aunt, Dorothy Durham, as well as many cousins and other family members in Tennessee. Jake was born on February 26, 1983, in Atlanta, Georgia, lived in California for several years, then moved to Houston. He attended Seven Hills School in Walnut Creek, California and Del Mar Middle School in Tiburon, California. In Houston he attended St. Francis Episcopal Day School, Spring Branch Middle School, Memorial Senior High School and Houston Community College. He performed in theater at each school, and was a dual credit college/high student at Memorial Senior High. Jake was an incredible artist who played amazing guitar, painted, wrote poetry and short essays. He often performed at coffee houses in the Houston area with his friends. One of his favorite remembrances was a family vacation to New York City a few years ago where he played Beatles songs at the memorial for John Lennon at Strawberry Fields in Central Park. He immediately created a large crowd of listeners with much applause and appreciation of his guitar skills. Jake's creativity and humor were astonishing. Besides his talent as an artist, he was an entrepreneur who worked on several small businesses, including one to help people get copyrights for their creative works. He was an avid reader of daily newspapers and books, and loved conversations on current topics. He was an amateur radio operator, call sign KC5WXA, who thoroughly enjoyed building equipment and talking to his dad and other hams on his radios. He enjoyed attending Theater Under the Stars and other Houston performing arts, and making visits with his family to Houston's art and science museums. Jake was good hearted, loved his family and friends, and in return was very much loved, admired and respected by them. He would often make pieces of art that he gave to family and friends as gifts. Jake's smile, sense of humor and ability to connect with people made him popular. He had his fair share of girlfriends. He was a very good, decent guy who was dealt a bad hand. He touched many lives and will be remember always by those who knew him as an inspiration for his courageousness and strength in dealing with so many disappointments and adversities in his life. The family wishes to express its sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of Jake's caregivers over the years, including hospitals and doctors who spent so much time with him. We are especially thankful to Mr. Lee Castillo in The Heights for his unwavering patience, support, care and love of Jake over the past few years. We would also like to thank all our family and friends in Houston and Tennessee for your understanding and support of Jake for so long. We were blessed with the care and help you gave us in dealing with Jake's depression and other issues. Jake will be eternally missed by all who knew and loved him, and he will leave forever an unimaginable void in so many of our lives. A memorial service will be held in Smithville, Tennessee on Saturday, May 16, 2009, for Jake's family, followed by internment at DeKalb Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, the family would be honored if donations would be mailed to the "Jake McClain Driver Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 55884, Houston, TX 77255-5884." This memorial fund has been established to help support two causes that were important in Jake's life: The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Metropolitan Houston, and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Newington, CT. Online tributes may be posted at www.bradshawcarter.com. 

Published in the Houston Chronicle on 5/15/2009 

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