In November 2011, we lost a dear friend, teacher and colleague when our friend and UNC graduate student and instructor Jelena Stojakovic passed away after a year-long battle with leukemia.
A celebration of Jelena’s life will be held on Friday, Feb. 3, and a warm invitation is extended to those in the broader community who knew Jelena and would like to come celebrate her legacy.
Join friends and colleagues to celebrate the life and spirit of Jelena Stojakovic on Friday, Feb. 3 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Graduate Student Center at 211 West Cameron Ave. in Chapel Hill. Come and share food and drink and stories of Jelena’s impact on the lives of those who knew her and the community as a whole. The program will begin with several speakers sharing their thoughts and memories of Jelena, followed by an “open mic†time in which all are welcome to speak. The memorial will conclude with a short reception.
Following the reception, join in a toast to Jelena at The Crunkleton, 320 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill.
Jelena was my tenant until she told me she had leukemia and went out to the Hutchinson Center in Seattle for treatment. I met her shortly before I moved to Morocco, and was so impressed at her resilience and her wonderful disposition–she had been a refugee/DP from the Bosnia-Serbian war, worked for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, came to Chapel Hill, took Arabic courses, and was a graduate student in communication studies. When I returned almost a year later, she gave me the bad news. I sometimes wonder whether it was as a result of exposure to the toxicity of war. I’d like to think that she’d tell us all to keep at it, to maintain our good spirits in the darkest of times. Jelena, I’m thinking of you today, and I’d like to thank you for letting me be a small part your life.