Stephanie Tubbs Jones was my representative when I lived in Cleveland for 4 years and a more passionate, outgoing and brilliant delegate in Washington could not have been desired. Her commitment to the community she served was outstanding. Her district held both some of the richest and some of the poorest neighborhoods in Cleveland (she remained living near one the economically depressed areas where she had grown up) and all voters respected, and most importantly, trusted her. I had the privilege to meet her several times and she was an easy going, jofyul and dazzling person.

As a young female working in public service and a fellow alumna of Case Western Reserve University, Rep. Tubbs Jones is one of my personal heroes. I desire to adopt even a fraction of the ease she had whenever she spoke, whether one on one or in front of thousands of excited supporters. She held firm on her convictions, no matter how outnumbered. A trait anyone would be proud to have, Rep. Tubbs Jones faced far greater scrutiny to her decisions than most ever will and never flinched.

If you visit Cleveland, you can't help but notice the prominence and power of the Stokes family. EVERYTHING in the city seems to carry their name. When Rep. Louis Stokes retired from the U.S. House of Representatives, he supported Stephanie Tubbs Jones as his desired successor. Even without her personality and accomplishments endearing her to the community, this endorsement would have been enough. But she more than earned her five terms and would have been supported by her loving constituents for many years to come.

She will be unbelievably missed by everyone. The Cleveland community has lost one of its stars and my thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

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As I have been reading others accounts of their experiences with Rep. Tubbs Jones, I felt I should add one of my favorites. One of the women in Case's Office of Community Service would lead walking tours of the Cleveland Heights/University Circle/East Cleveland area to introduce students to some of the organizations that needed help (local curches, the free clinic, etc.) and always included a walk past Rep. Tubbs Jones' house to gush about what a community leader and inspiration she was.

The tour I took (on a saturday at the beginning of my freshman year) included a meeting (my first!) with Rep. Tubbs Jones who was doing yard work in front of her house. She took time away from her personal time to talk to all of us. The questions were mostly basic such as where we were from and what we wanted to study, but she also talked to us about what we had seen that day. East Cleveland is one of the roughest and most economically depressed areas in Cleveland, and many of us had not spent a good amount of time walking through an area like that before. She encouraged us to be honest about our feelings about being in that neighborhood and knowing it was going to be a part of many of our daily lives for the next four years (East Cleveland directly borders the Case Western Campus).

It was refreshing that a life-long resident of the Cleveland Heights/Univeristy Circle/East Cleveland area didn't reply with scorn when we expressed our concern about the area and our hesitancy to want to do work there. She encouraged us to start small if we were nervous and strongly support working with the Office of Community Service because they would be able to best assist us. Then she gave each of us her email address and encouraged us to write her if we wanted to talk through any experiences we had.

Her care for everyone she met was what made her one of my heroes. As can be evidenced by the many other stories of her selflessness, her presence will truly be missed by many.