‘Everybody liked her.’ Friends, family remember woman, 60, killed in Mesquite flood
Jolene Jarrell, the 60-year-old woman who died when Monday flood waters swept her car away in Mesquite, is being remembered as a giving, loving person and a wife, mother and grandmother.
Jarrell, an Uber driver in Mesquite, was heading home on Scyene Road when flood waters started pushing her car. Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported she called her husband and told him that she felt like someone was pushing her vehicle.
The SUV was swept off the bridge on Scyene Road, just past Interstate 635 and near a QuikTrip, and Jarrell drowned there, according to authorities.
Sherri Shaw, a friend of Jarrell, said she was a true friend for nearly 20 years. She had a quick wit and if any of her friends needed help, they didn’t even have to ask. She seemed to be able to tell, and knew what to do.
“Jolene was feisty and caring and such an amazing friend and person,” Shaw said.
Shaw said Jarrell was the kind of person who was always completely honest and would tell you if you were messing up in some way and offer to help you fix any problems. And she also had a great sense of humor, Shaw said.
“She had a quick laugh that came from the heart,” she told the Star-Telegram. “She was one of those friends you could tell anything to and she would not judge and she was your friend even behind your back. ... The world will be a duller place without her and her energy, for sure.”
Jarrell loved her kids and treated Shaw’s two children like they were her own, Shaw said.
Kirk Jarrell, Jolene Jarrell’s husband, told WFAA she was his best friend and that she cared about everyone.
“She was just a very giving person, she loved her family and she was great to everybody,” Kirk Jarrell said. “Everybody liked her.”
Wendy Boynton, another friend of Jolene Jarrell, said that during the 10 years they worked together at IHOP in Rockwall they became friends. She knew Jarrell as someone who would step up and do the things that needed to be done, even when nobody else would.
“Just knowing she isn’t here anymore is the hardest part,” Boynton said.
Jarrell was always kind to everyone, but there was nothing she wouldn’t do for her friends, Boynton said. The only time her door wasn’t open to the people she cared about is if her grandchildren were around.
“They were her priority and nobody took away from her time with them,” Boynton said.
Boynton said it had been a few years since she’d seen Jarrell in person, but the two had planned to get lunch one day. That day never came, and it’s left her hoping other people will take the time to meet and catch up with the people they care about.
“Life can wait,” Boynton said. “Our loved ones can’t.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Jolene Jarrell’s family cover funeral costs. The family is hoping to raise $10,000.
This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 6:22 PM.