By: Ya’el McLoud
Dec. 10, 2021
If you were to walk through the Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, you would see the art exhibit for Uniting US Summer with the Arts: Healing, Freedom, Family, exhibit.
In this art exhibit, you would be able to view a comic strip portraying retired air force Col. Jeanette Minnich, 64, battles with stage four cancer. The bright colors and simple artwork reveal the honest humor that Minnich showcases.
Minnich began drawing these comics so she could share her journey with friends and family on social media.
“This is not only a way I can communicate with friends, I can have a little joy. But it's something that will last,” Minnich said.
Minnich is on a mission to memorialize her life through art for her loved ones and her community.
“In some ways your art can be part of your legacy. It will outlast you, Minnich said. “And it will tell you something or tell your descendants who never got a chance to meet you a little bit about you.”
AnnMarie Halterman, the executive director of Uniting US also saw this in Minnich’s art, as it stood out from hundreds of other submissions.
“She captures the yo-yo effect of radiation treatments, the healing and joy brought by doing art, and her commitment to her personal legacy project to be remembered,” Halterman said.
It is a sunny day in July and Minnich is sitting in the “she-shed” her husband and son built for her while she was going through chemo and radiation treatments.
Minnich said, it was one source of motivation for her because she could look forward to using the shed once she was strong enough to enjoy it. It is filled with pictures and scrapbooking supplies; the crafting supplies were in large part donated by people in her church.
“Folks donated loads of crafting supplies for her new she-shed,” Amy Morgan said, the pastor at First United Presbyterian Church.
A sign outside the shed reads “Memory Lane”, a gift from breast cancer survivor, AnnMarie Arbo.
Minnich uses her she-shed for all of her photos and scrapbooking supplies. She says she has always been a planner.
“I'm making plans doing things like, sorting the photos, and making sure the finances are straight,” Minnich said.
Her family and friends will be visiting her in the next few months to spend as much time with her as possible. She is feeling good as of now but, Minnich said that she does not know how swift the results from her cancer may be and she has big unknowns.
In those same months she will be crafting her dream project, a sculpture of a ballerina which she will have cast in bronze, her church friends are raising funds so that this can be done.
It is something that Minnich said she hopes she will be able to see.
“Folks are so thrilled to be able to contribute to having this sculpture cast because it is something tangible we can do, Morgan said.
"It has been a long-time dream of Jeanette's, and we are so blessed to help make it a reality for her.”
She is working out the last imperfections in the clay, although she notes that some texture in the clay is good because it reflects the original medium.
Her art studio is filled with sculptures and other artwork. Watercolor dancers line the wall and sculptures are on every surface of the space.
Minnich said, she struggles with color values and that was one reason why she turned to the medium of sculptures. “But, you know, I hope that in heaven, I have great color sense,” Minnich said.
Minnich wants her family to remember her in several ways after her death. “I don't want fear, you know, fearful thinking, being a major part of the legacy that they remember, Minnich said.
“I would rather that they think that I had grown beyond that, and that my faith in God is something that can take away some of that.”
Minnich will be remembered by her friends, family and community which extends throughout the country and the world, but her art will continue her legacy.
“Right now, it feels like she is creating a legacy of beauty and love for her loved ones. I think that is really important to her, and also energizing,” Morgan said.
UPDATE: Jeanette Minnich passed away April 20, 2022. Her friends and family were with her. She was able to get her ballerina sculpture cast with the help of her community before she passed.
You can view her obituary here.
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