OBITUARY: Leilani Noelle Jones Pole, 1975-2023
Leilani Noelle Jones Pole was born in Eureka at St. Joseph’s
Hospital on September 13, 1975, to Edith Norton and Arthur Jones. She
was a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and lived most of her life in
Hoopa. Leilani graduated from Hoopa High as Senior Class President in
1993. In high school she participated in softball, cheerleading and
basketball, and during her youth she was active in participating in
her traditional dances. She was an avid sports fan of her home team,
the Hoopa Warriors, and she would be the driver to the games on the
road for her nephew.
Leilani believed in
the healing power of herbs and holistic medicine; she was always
prepared with the perfect cure for whatever ailment a person had.
Leilani loved gathering roots and sticks for baskets and preparing
the materials for making regalia and working on her Indian dress, and
she loved gardening, reading and music. She attended many concerts
over the years and has mourned passed singers as if they were members
of the family. She was absolutely psyched to have the chance to see
the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform in the Hoopa High gymnasium and
meeting Kid Rock backstage and having her photo taken with him.
Leilani was a
worker-bee and enjoyed many jobs within the community. After high
school she would start working as a tree counter for Ron Lawton in
the Forks of the Salmon area after which she became employed with
Hoopa Tribal Forestry’s Wildlife Division on their Spotted
Owl/Marbled Murrelet Crew. During these years she would start a
family giving birth to Sloan, Minnie, Isabelle and later Cleora.
While raising a family, she would go on to graduate from the CR
Police Academy and worked at Hoopa Tribal Police, transferring later
to the Hoopa Tribal Court where she worked as a Truancy Juvenile
Officer. She would then run for Tribal Council and serve as a
councilmember for three terms (six years). She had decided to run
again and is on the ballot for the General Election to be held this
June 2023. This summer she also worked for Hoopa Tribal Fire at base
camp for the fires in Willow Creek. She was presently employed and
working at the Office of Emergency Services for the Hoopa Tribe.
When Leilani was
told she’d be a grandmother she cried with joy and was excited for
this new role in life as she herself was very close to her
grandparents. For her, family was life and she always included them
in her dreams and plans whether it was wanting to start a family
business or a commune, she was always full of ideas. Besides being
the best mother to her four beautiful girls, she was also a maternal
figure to many, and loved hosting large family gatherings. Her
passing comes as an unexpected, heartbreaking shock for her family
and friends, as we all know she wasn’t finished with everything she
wanted to do or accomplish, she had so much more to offer. That
unique spark and personality that Leilani possessed will forever be
remembered. She blessed us with many happy memories that are all we
have now. Therefore, they are more precious as we start to realize
she is no longer with us, but we know that if she was busy here, then
she is already taking notes on what needs to be done to improve what
she can with that unique spark and personality that she takes with
her on the journey, that she is now on. We love you, our family.
Leilani was
predeceased by her grandparents; Minnie McWilliams and Sam Jones,
Byron “Bones” Grant, Sr. and Eileen “Boo Boo” Grant; her
great-grandparents Sam and Julia Jones, Ned and Louisa Jackson and
Albert “AT” Gray and Edith Gray, Frank and Maggie Grant; her
aunts Denise Nix Holt, Julia Jones, Darlene Gray; her uncles Byron
“Newt” Grant, Jr., Ted Cole, Donald “Dunks” Jones, Eddie
Oliver; and her brother-in-law Joseph McGinnis, Sr.
Leilani is survived
by her daughters Sloan McKelvy (Grant), Minnie McKelvy, Isabelle
Jones (Ryan) and Cleora Pole and her father Nathan Pole; her parents
Arthur Jones and Edith & Kenny Norton; her brothers Sam Jones IV,
Cheyenne Norton, Jr. (Kinsa), Pliny Jones (Jaime), Arthur Jones, RT
Jones, Jesus Jones, Tyson Dempewolf (Cammie), Dana Norton (Adrienne)
and Damien Norton; her sisters Louisa “Weezie” Jones (Bud) and
Nicole McGinnis; her grandchildren Aizen and Aurora Hamilton; her
nephews Sammy Jones, Jake Jones, Jed Jones, Cheyenne Norton, Jr., Joe
Joe, Dakota and Nixon McGinnis, Hunter and Parker Jones, Brandon
Henry, Sam and Bitty Jones; her nieces Julia Jones, Louisa Henry, Tea
and Nimbue McGinnis, Addie Jones, Sequoia Jones; her uncles Loren
Norton (Patti), and Jack Norton (Kim); her aunts Vicki Cole, Maggie
Pearson (Ted), Leslie McCovey and Lisa Grant; her grandmother
Marcellene Norton; her great-uncles Albert “Junky” Gray (Paula),
Walter “Bud” Gray, Jr. (Mardelle), Uncle Wall Gray, Wayne Grant
(Reva); her great-aunts Vivienna Masten, Melissa Morton, Millie
Grant, and Janet Jackson (Loggie); and her many cousins too many to
mention.
Pallbearers: Pliny
Jones, RT Jones, Sam Jones, Jesus Jones, Cheyenne Norton, Sammy
Jones, Jake Jones, Marion “Buckmeat” McCovey, Romeo McCovey,
Ranold “Sonnies” Pearson, Tekwes McCovey, Jed Morris and Quincy
Masten.
Honorary
Pallbearers: Dana Norton, Damien Norton, Lucas Garcia, Boyd Ferris,
Inker McCovey, Ted Pearson, Walter Gray III, Uncle Hank Masten, Bud
Gray, Thomas Masten II, Grant Hamilton, Ryan Moon, Mitch , Shannon
Jones, Boogs, Johnny Jones, Marvin Jones, Harold Jones, Jalen Jones,
Christopher “Taz” Jones, Cliff Marshall, Nantsvn Jones-Scott,
Ryan Jackson, Ryan Jones, Harold Myers, Ralphy Peters, Derek Hyman,
Harry “O”, O’s, Brandon Henry, Sherman Norton, Hence Holt,
Jason Pacheco, Tyler Mitchell, Steve Gray, Bobby Campbell Sr., Bobby
Campbell Jr., Lane Campbell, Tristan Campbell, Jake Blake, Shawn
Turner, Richard Jackson, Abraham Camez, Elisha Pratt, Bud Henry, Jake
Mckelvy, Luke Mckelvy, Amos Pole, and apologies if we forgot to
mention more but we know she was loved by many.
On Friday, March 17,
2023, there will be a wake and viewing at the Neighborhood
Facilities, there will be a procession by the Hoopa Fire Department
by the time she arrives at Tish Tang to the N.F. She will lay at rest
for the wake with services on Saturday, March 18, 2023, at 11 a.m.
with the honorable judge Richard Blake officiating the services. The
family will honor her wishes to be cremated and her ashes to be made
into a jewel, so there will be no graveside at this time. Reception
at the firehall immediately following the conclusion of the services.
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Leilani Pole’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email [email protected].
