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Letter to the editor

Art teacher blended creativity with order

By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published October 10, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Jennifer Nolletti, 26, was killed when a car crashed into her family's sport utility vehicle while heading to a muscular dystrophy benefit at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Friday.

DUNEDIN - On canvas, Jennifer Nolletti admired the drippy, chaotic painting style of Jackson Pollock and the unpredictable methods of Chuck Close.

At home, she craved order. She charted bills and due dates on a graph and organized her closet by season and occasion. Each day, she went to sleep and woke at the same time.

As an art teacher at South Ward Elementary, her sides melded.

For one lesson, she had students pick a noun, a verb and an adjective at random and paint a picture. So what if it didn't make sense? It was surreal.

* * *

Ms. Nolletti, 26, was heading to a muscular dystrophy benefit at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Friday when a car crashed into her family's sport utility vehicle. Ms. Nolletti was killed.

On Tuesday, her family retrieved things from her classroom. They saw yarn organized by color in cubby holes. Quotes from the "artist of the month" posted on the wall.

She was a strict teacher, said her boyfriend, Joe Sanders. She incorporated math, reading and grammar, and taught the color wheel to kindergarteners.

She introduced students to Monet, Dali and Matisse. She sculpted a ceramic swine named Pigcasso, and the best behaved classes got to take care of him.

This year, she and Sanders traveled to Washington, D.C., and visited the National Gallery of Art. She stood by all her favorite works, grinning for photos.

* * *

It's no surprise she ended up with a rocker.

Ms. Nolletti grew up listening to groups like Pearl Jam, Candlebox and Bush. Rosemary Nolletti would take her daughter and friends to local concerts, negotiating with doormen to let them in.

"I remembered myself when I was a kid, and all the things I wanted to do," said Rosemary Nolletti.

At 18, Ms. Nolletti eloped, but the marriage didn't last. Then, about five years ago, she worked at Starbucks part time. Each day, she saw Sanders, a customer - her "Starbucks crush."

One night, she went to see his band, Basic Rock Outfit. The two hung out until 6 a.m.

"She made me a man," said Sanders, 37. "She gave me a foundation for normalcy and took me from being some punk kid to being a functioning man in society."

He loved her ear-to-ear smile. How she hated bugs but would never kill them, making Sanders free them outside.

Even the bill graph, neatness and routines. In the end, he liked them very much.

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857.

Biography

Jennifer Nolletti

Born: Feb. 28, 1981

Died: Oct. 5, 2007

Survivors: Boyfriend, Joe Sanders; mom and dad, Rosemary and Nick Nolletti; brother, Mike Nolletti; grandparents, Dominick and Rima Totino and Giovanna Nolletti; uncles, Vinny Nolletti and Dana Totino

Services: Visitation 4-8 p.m. today. Funeral Service at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens, 1750 Curlew Road, Palm Harbor.

[Last modified October 9, 2007, 22:33:52]