Melissa Marie Jensen passed away on June 11, 2022 at the age of 45 at her home. She was born in San Andreas, Calaveras County CA January 20th 1977, but grew up in Sutter Creek, Amador County as a child and young teen. She was a funny little girl and would keep us all laughing with her jokes. She had a habit of bringing home critters such as frogs, turtles, mice, and kittens. She wanted to save and love them all.

Melissa moved from Amador County to Humboldt County in 1993 with her mother at the age of 16 and has been a Humboldt girl ever since. Melissa immediately fell in love with the Redwoods and the beautiful beaches and made many friends.

Melissa loved adventure and snowboarding. She was about 19 when she and her best friend Lorna decided to go work at Kirkwood Ski Resort west of Lake Tahoe. It’s there she met her future husband Dave Frawley. She and Dave moved back to Humboldt together. They got jobs for a while but were restless and needed to explore again. They loved winter snow.

She and Dave moved briefly to Jackson Hole Wyoming to work at another ski resort for the season and explore Wyoming nature. She loved the beauty and was almost tempted to live there permanently but Humboldt called them back.

Melissa and Dave then decided to explore the city and moved to San Francisco briefly to attend the city college. She studied Botany and environmental preservation. She had many funny and crazy tales of life in the city. She loved the city but again Humboldt called her back.

Melissa and Dave decided to settle down and got married on the top of Trinidad Head and had a beautiful boy named Aidan, who was born August of 2002. Although their relationship didn’t last, they always remained close friends and stayed in contact. They shared the love of their son together but apart.

Melissa loved and cared about nature and being kind to Mother Earth. She also cared and had a strong empathy for people and animals. Her heart was so full it was sometimes too much for her to bear. She loved bike riding, roller skating, kayaking and vegetable gardening. There was so much she wanted to learn and do. She had dreams of traveling and so much more but her time was cut short.

Melissa stayed connected to her friends from Amador County as well as her friends here. We will all miss her beautiful smile and laughter and remember the kind and caring person she was. She is survived by her son, Aidan Sean Frawley and her mother Sandra Jensen.

May you rest in peace, my sweet Melissa.

We would like to invite family and friends to a Celebration of Life for Melissa, Sunday July 24th at North of Fourth, 207 Third street, Eureka at 2 p.m. Light food will be provided and musicians are welcome to share songs. 

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