Jacqueline Yvonne Chavis-Wei

Jacqueline Yvonne Chavis-Wei, 37, passed away peacefully, with her family by her side, in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2018, after a valiant near three-year battle against cancer. Jacqueline was born on July 28, 1980, in San Antonio, Texas, and as part of an US Air Force family, lived in many areas across the United States.. She is the beloved wife of Jay-Ping Wei, of Waldorf, Maryland, daughter of the late Captain James Clemon Chavis II (USAF retired) and Regina Daugherty Chavis, of Waldorf, Maryland and sister of James Clemon Chavis III, of Seattle, Washington.

She graduated with honors from Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, Michigan, where she was the president of the National Honor Society. With a full scholarship, she attended and graduated from University of Michigan, with Bachelor of Science degree in architecture, followed by a Master's degree in architecture from the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.

At the time of her death, Jacqueline was a senior project architect and project manager at Shalom Baranes Associates in Washington, DC; previously she was architecture associate at Gensler in Washington, DC. She specialized the design and development of government buildings, commercial office buildings, military facilities, airports, banks, hospitality facilities, and high-end resorts, including the recently opened and acclaimed Gaylord Hotel at the National Harbor of Washington, DC. She received her Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification in 2004 and other cutting-edge certifications. She was a member of the Urban Land Institute, Washington, and the American Institute of Architects as well an alumni on the Board of Governors for the Alfred A. Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Jackie, as she was known by many, was committed to hospitality and residential-driven mixed-use design-both international and domestic-and thrived on opportunities to work on such large and immersive projects. She relished the complexity of orchestrating a large team toward a lofty goal. Jackie was also passionate about mentoring young designers and building relationships with university faculty-from founding portfolio workshops to coordinating summer internship programs-to help others early in their careers succeed. These efforts continued to renew Jackie's love of design exploration. No one was more proud of these accomplishments than her dad, who, during his wedding toast to Jay and Jackie on September 19, 2015, noted that she was one of only 355 female African American architects in the United States at the time. Perhaps Jackie hoped her mentoring would increase that number in the years ahead. Jackie also had an ear for language and pursued Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and other languages to help in her work, travels, and cultural understandings. Jackie always tried to give back to her community from volunteering to clean cages at the local Pet Smart's Adoption area to manning the phones for NPR fundraising. Jackie was the foundation of her family unit. She was the first child and the gift from her parent's union. She was conceived during the honeymoon stage of their marriage, and even though she was not planned…was the best thing that ever happened to them. She helped them work harder at their marriage when it would have been easier to give up when times were bad. They were together over 37 years because of her. She had the greatest sense of humor and kept everyone laughing, even up to the last moments of her life.

In addition to her husband, mother and brother, Jacqueline leaves behind her mother-in-law, Shiao-Yen (Sue) Wei, Dallas, Texas; brother and sister-in-law, Charles & Sunnie Wei, Honolulu, Hawaii; grandparents, Esther Maxile Chavis, Waldorf, MD and Alberta Lee Daugherty, San Antonio, Texas, an aunt, and several cousins, as well has her devoted ""fur babies"", Luna, and Chibi. She will also be missed by her current and past colleagues in Washington DC, the University of Michigan, and her close friends from across the country.

A celebration of Jacqueline's life is planned in March, in Waldorf, Maryland. Interment is private.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in honor or in memory of Jacqueline Yvonne Chavis-Wei to: ""Fight Colorectal Cancer"" or ""Fight CRC"" 134 Park Central Square, Suite 210, Springfield MO 65806 or online at: https://give.fightcrc.org/checkout/donation?eid=26925

The family also offers special thanks to the entire staff of Georgetown University Hospital, such as Dr. Sunnie Kim, Dr. Fahad Lodhi, and the entire team on 4300 Main.