With family by her side, a mother completes a journey to honor her son

Thirteen years after the death of her son, Mary Jenkins returned to Mammoth Lakes for the first time this month. Before coming home, she left behind a memorial dedicated to her third child, James Jenkins, an alum of Crescenta Valley High, where he was a basketball and swimming star.

He died in the spring of 2002 while hiking with his father. At some point, he was separated from his dad and lost his footing, plummeting over Rush Creek Falls.

Since the day the tragedy cut his life short, Mary Jenkins wanted to build a bench in memory of her son. Yet heading back to Mammoth Lakes to dedicate it proved to be too emotionally painful.

“I didn’t want to go. My kids wanted to go and see where it was, and it was heart-wrenching thinking of going there and thinking, why? Why was he so close to the edge?” Mary Jenkins said. “I guess that’s the whole nature of being an athlete. You live on the edge.”

But a change of heart came about when her niece planned to get married in Mammoth Lakes.

With the whole family making the trip by her side, Mary Jenkins said the time was right.

She hired a woodworker in the Mammoth Lakes area to craft the bench entirely out of redwood, along with a few specifications.

The finished product is 6 feet, 7 inches long, which was exactly how tall James Jenkins was.

“It is massive, strong, powerful, bold and husky. It is everything that James was … I was just overwhelmed, everybody said it couldn’t have been more perfect,” Mary Jenkins said.

The memorial bench was the first such effort for Dan Corning, owner of Mountaindog Woodworks in Mammoth Lakes.

In addition to the length, he was told to sand down 19 slats on the bench, one for each year of James Jenkins’ life.

Corning said each slat he worked on made him think of where James Jenkins might have been in his short life.

“When I got to number five, I was thinking he’s in kindergarten, by number eight, he might be playing little league,” he said. “I was thinking, this is kind of powerful.”

Underneath James Jenkins’ engraved name were “#45” and “#55,” the numbers on the jerseys he wore playing basketball for Crescenta Valley High School and San Jose State, respectively.

Also carved into the wood was his nickname “Big Game James.”

Barely out of high school at the time of his death, James Jenkins was a celebrated basketball center at Crescenta Valley High School. He went on to complete his freshman year at San Jose State.

He still holds top 10 records for rebounding and scoring, but saw even more success as a swimmer.

James Jenkins broke records previously set by his brother John Jenkins and, at his peak, was the sixth-fastest high school swimmer in the United States.

The memorial bench sits in front of the general store at the campground of the Silver Lake resort, near the location of the final moments of James Jenkins’ life.

His mother was joined by many relatives at the dedication of the bench, including some nieces and nephews born after the tragedy.

The support meant everything, Mary Jenkins said.

“It had been a long time since we’ve all been together. It meant so much to be there for a person that some of them hardly knew,” she said.

Corning said since the bench was made out of redwood, it won’t rot and will last forever.

Despite the more than decadelong wish to build a memorial bench, Mary Jenkins said the dedication was likely the only time she’d ever gaze upon it.

Her son’s memory will continue to live on, but the pain will also always be there.

“I did what I wanted to do, I accomplished it,” she said. “I may never see the bench again.”

The 13th annual James Jenkins Memorial Falcon Golf Classic will be held at noon on Oct. 15 at the La Cañada Country Club, 5500 Godbey Drive. The fundraiser benefits the Crescenta Valley High basketball program. The cost for four golfers is $600 or $175 per golfer.

For more information, contact Betsy Heckmann at (818) 612-6829.