EllaLeesha West Thomas

ON JULY 18, 1986, A BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL WAS BORN TO THE UNION OF MICHAEL RAY WEST AND COLLEEN JACKSON IN BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA. THIS LOVELY CHILD WOULD BE KNOWN BY HER ELEGANT NAME, ELLALEESHA. 

EARLY IN ELLALEESHA'S LIFE, SHE MADE THE DECISION TO ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS HER LORD AND SAVIOR, ESTABLISHING A FAITH THAT WOULD SHAPE HER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. 

ELLALEESHA BEGAN HER EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY AT MCKINLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND LATER GRADUATED FROM EMERSON JR HIGH AND BAKERSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL IN THE CLASS OF 2004. DURING HER TIME AT BAKERSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL, ELLALEESHA WAS A PROUD MEMBER OF THE LADY DRILLERS BASKETBALL TEAM. 

FOLLOWING HIGH SCHOOL, ELLALEESHA CHOSE TO PURSUE A CAREER IN THE MEDICAL FIELD, FURTHERING HER EDUCATION AT KAPLAN COLLEGE. THROUGHOUT AND AFTER COLLEGE, SHE HELD VARIOUS JOBS, NOTABLY WORKING AT AN EYELASH BAR AND UTILIZING HER MEDICAL EDUCATION IN PLASMA COLLECTION. HER MOST RECENT EMPLOYMENT WAS WITH OCTAPHARMA PLASMA IN SANTA FE SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA. 

ON JUNE 14, 2014, ELLALEESHA AND HER SOULMATE JARVIS THOMAS EXCHANGED VOWS, UNITING AS HUSBAND AND WIFE. THIS UNION, BUILT ON THE PROMISE OF TRUE LOVE UNTIL DEATH DO THEM PART, LASTED UNTIL HER UNTIMELY DEPARTURE. ELLALEESHA AND JARVIS TREATED THE MANY NIECES, NEPHEWS, AND COUSINS FROM THEIR COMBINED FAMILIES AS THEIR OWN CHILDREN. 

PRECEDING HER IN DEATH ARE HER GRANDPARENTS ON BOTH SIDES, GEORGE AND ELLA LENARD, WHO RAISED HER AS THEIR OWN DAUGHTER, AND CLIFFORD AND EARLENE JACKSON, WHO LOVED HER DEARLY. 

LEFT ON THIS EARTHLY REALM TO CHERISH HER LEGACY AND MEMORY IS HER HUSBAND AND SOULMATE, JARVIS THOMAS. SHE IS ALSO SURVIVED BY HER LOVING PARENTS MICHAEL WEST SR. (LEANA) AND COLLEEN JACKSON, HER SISTERS RAVUNA SUELL, ROBIN LEE, ROBRESHA HALL, ROBRITNEY, AND TERRAH PAYTON, KEISHALAY, AND JENNIFER LAMBERT; BRIYANNA COLEMAN, MIKESHA, AND MIKASIA WEST, AND BROTHERS BRYAN SUELL AND MICHAEL WEST JR. ADDITIONALLY, SHE LEAVES BEHIND A HOST OF AUNTS, UNCLES, COUSINS, NIECES, NEPHEWS, AND EXTENDED FAMILY WHO WILL TRULY MISS THE SPIRIT AND SMILE OF THEIR DEAR ELLALEESHA.