Amanda Lee Jones, 11, a resident of Hopewell Junction since 1999, died on Sunday, November 28, 2010 at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital due to complications associated with Leukemia.

Born in Paterson, NJ on July 15, 1999, she was the daughter of Brian and Zuleyka Jones. She was a sixth grade student at Van Wyck Junior High School, a Girl Scout and an artist. She was also a member of the Valley Christian Church.

In addition to her parents, Amanda is survived by her brother, Dylan; her grandparents, PopPop Robert Jones, Nana and Papa Joe Papenburg and Abuela Noris Dawkins; her aunts and uncles, Bobby and Dana, Tim and Debbie, Erin and Leslie; and her cousins, Ally, Nikki, Melissa, Kerry, Liam and Lee. She was also loved by her Aunt Ve.

At the young age of seven years old, Amanda was diagnosed with Leukemia. That was March 5, 2007 when she was fighting what appeared to be a very simple strep throat but a blood test proved otherwise and turned her life upside down. Throughout her long and arduous battle, she has touched countless lives with her positive attitude and incredible resilience. She approached each day with unending faith that God is in control and He would see her through this.

The past three and a half years have been long ones for both Amanda and her 10-year old brother Dylan. Amanda endured the circumstances of her illness without the slightest hint of self pity. Her treatment consisted of intense chemotherapy requiring long stays in the hospital followed by home confinement. Her treatment severely compromised her immune system so she needed to avoid crowds and anywhere where the potential for contact with germs or viruses existed. In her second relapse, she had seen more chemo than anyone could imagine but tolerated it admirably.

Amanda and her brother Dylan were very close, both in age and in friendship. You could say that they were best friends. As Amanda matured, and that happened all too quickly, she also became somewhat motherly to Dylan. There was a bit of resistance to this from Dylan, but they got along so well and remained very close. They missed each other deeply while they were apart but Dylan was able to visit the hospital on weekends and occasionally spent the night there. Fortunately, there was much to keep them occupied with many activities to choose from at Maria Ferrari Children's Hospital. The hospital staff were also incredible; from the nurses to the doctors to her special friends Lauren and Gabrielle we could not have asked for more. We had been there so long that the staff became a part of our family and Amanda loved them all. The nurses did so much more than "nurse" and our family developed some special relationships with some very special people.

At Maria Farreri Children's Hospital there is an art studio stocked with crayons, paints, canvasses and all sorts of arts and crafts material for the patients to use. Gabrielle, the art therapist, devoted an immense amount of time to Amanda not only teaching her artistic techniques but also building an invaluable friendship. She made Amanda's long stays in the hospital a little more tolerable and a lot more rewarding. Through Gabrielle's efforts, Amanda cultivated a great interest in painting and became a talented young artist.

Amanda loved school, but was only able to attend for about 3 months during her third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade: she saw the very end of third grade and the very beginning of fourth before her first relapse. That said, she worked diligently to keep up with her classmates and maintained impressive grades. As you can imagine, this takes hard work, dedication, and discipline. Amanda also loved to read and can be found curled up with a good book throughout the day.

Amanda attended Valley Christian Church which too had been off limits during her treatment due to the large crowds that needed to be avoided. Valley is a wonderful place for families and the church has been a great source of support in so many ways to our entire family. Amanda had many friends at Valley that are constantly praying for her and they all miss her. They recently did a cookbook fund raiser for Amanda that was a huge success. Amanda was a "foodie" and liked to dabble in the kitchen so our Valley family came up with the idea for the cookbook which was a collection of over 400 recipes submitted by friends and family of the church and professionally printed. It came out great and was a huge success.

For vacation, Amanda loved the beach and her favorite spot was Maine. She also got to spend some time at the beach on the Jersey Shore by her Nana and Papa Joe's house which is just off Long Beach Island. She loved to visit them in the summer when she could ride her bike, go to the amusement park, arcade and water slide. While she was undergoing treatment and her port was still active she could not go swimming or be under water, so for much of the last three and a half years swimming and water slides were also off limits. Another fun vacation was a trip to Colorado. Amanda's Aunt Erin lives in Boulder. It was here where Amanda got to go horseback riding through Rocky Mountain National Park. The views and the weather were incredible. It snowed one day and it was eighty degrees the next. Amanda's favorite moment of the trip was when Aunt Erin and Leslie took her and Dylan to a restaurant called Noodles and they were having such a good time that when Dylan took a drink of soda and started laughing the soda came out his nose. You see, it's the little things that we take for granted and sometimes forget to enjoy.

Amanda did an enviable job of making the best of her life and not letting her illness or the treatment keep her down. It has been amazing to watch a young girl walk through something like this with such faith and courage. Certainly she had some very difficult times but she always bounced back and always found a way to lift everyone's spirits around her.

In a word, Amanda is a hero. She had to handle what no child should ever have to handle and did it with such grace and selflessness. Amanda Jones was faith, courage, hope, strength and love and her gift of making people smile regardless of the circumstances was a blessing to all who knew and loved her and her mother and father were so proud to be her parents. And her brother Dlyan adored his sister.

Calling hours will be held on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Valley Christian Church, 1072 Route 82, Hopewell Junction. The Funeral Service will be held on Thursday at 11 a.m. at the church followed by burial in Fishkill Rural Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Amanda Jones Cancer Fund, c/o Chase Bank, 15 Merritt Blvd., Fishkill, NY 12524. Arrangements are under the direction of the McHoul Funeral Home, Inc.