Jennifer Grace Johnston Levy

Jennifer Levy passed away at home in Aromas, CA, on January 30th after living with stage 4 melanoma for nearly seven years. She was diagnosed in 2018 but remained active and engaged in her life, thanks in part to the excellent care she received at UCSF. Even in the past year, as she had a series of setbacks with her health, she still managed to travel, spend time with family, and keep working. Most importantly, she was present for her three boys-shaping their lives, making memories, and surrounding them with love. Jenny was born Jennifer Grace Johnston in Santa Cruz, CA, on September 5, 1982, to Robert and April Johnston. She grew up in Corralitos with her older sister, Laura, and younger brothers, Duncan, James, and Daniel, surrounded by a big, close-knit extended family. She graduated from Mt. Madonna School in 2000 and from UC Santa Barbara in 2003 with a degree in linguistics, finishing a year early. Her first son, Gabriel, was born in 2006. As a single mom, she worked hard to support him, balancing work and parenting and even returning to grad school in 2011. She earned a master's in accounting from San Jose State, got her CPA, and launched a career that took her from KPMG to West Marine, POLY, and finally HP, where she worked as Director of Finance. Jenny was incredibly smart and took pride in her work and success, but she was always focused on building a stable and fulfilling life for herself and her family. In 2014, she met Quentin Levy, and their connection was immediate. They married that October and soon welcomed two more sons, Everett in 2015 and Arlo in 2017. Jenny gave her boys everything-opportunities, adventures, and unconditional support. Whether it was scouts, music, art, sports, or summer camps, if they were interested, she made it happen. Family was at the center of Jenny's life. She stayed close to her parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, and a wide circle of aunts, uncles, and cousins. She also had an incredible ability to make and maintain friendships across every stage of her life-from childhood, college, grad school, her blogging days and from every job and place she lived. She was sharp, funny, and fiercely opinionated. She loved music, art, knitting, crafts, houseplants and books. She hated cooking but loved to eat (even though she was famously picky). She enjoyed games, long walks, water in all forms- swimming, bathing, soaking etc. and time spent with people she loved. Jenny is survived by her husband, Quentin, and her three boys: Gabriel (19), Everett (9), and Arlo (7). She is also survived by her parents, Bobby and April Johnston, sister Laura (Mike), brothers Duncan (Casey), James (Xochitl), and Daniel, nieces and nephews Simon, Elliot, Susannah, June, Duncan, Nora, and August, grandmother Ann, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and lifelong friends. A celebration of Jenny's life will be held on March 8, 2025, at 2 PM at the Corralitos Women's Club.