Jocelyn Aurelia Mead

Jocelyn Aurelia Mead

Jocelyn Aurelia Mead was born on March 4, 2014, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. She passed away on October 3, 2026, in Salt Lake City, Utah, surrounded by love, music, and her family. She was a cherished daughter to her mother, Amanda Mead, and is survived by her beloved older sister, Isabelle Mead; her father, Stephen Lanham; her grandmother, April Denton; her step-grandfather, Ernest Denton; her great-grandparents, Maria and Thomas Griggs; and an extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who loved her dearly.

Jocelyn was a force of nature: full of energy, she was confident, rambunctious, passionate, creative, resilient and incredibly intelligent. Affectionately known as Jojo or Jo, she was always ready for life's next adventure; she was unstoppable. As a United States Air Force dependent, she attended schools on military installations in Washington, Japan, and Guam. In 2025, her family left Japan and moved to Nevada. Although she was born in Washington, she spent most of her life overseas in Japan, a country she grew to love deeply. She loved Japanese culture, food, parks, cafés, and traveling. She was a funny, charming, and beautiful soul. Jo had an undeniable presence; strangers were drawn to her in public spaces, and she was the center of attention at gatherings with family and friends. She was goofy and lovable; she made everyone around her smile. She was always ready to share a joke and bring laughter to those around her.

Jo had a deep love for music. She never left the house without her headphones, she was always singing and introducing her family to new music. As she grew, her musical taste expanded to include what felt like the greatest library of songs on the planet. She listened to every genre and had a beautiful singing voice. She loved bands like Green Day, Oasis, Nirvana, Tim McGraw, and Plain White T's.

When she was 6, her favorite color was "rainbow", a few years later it changed to "glitter" and most recently she loved the color "purple". Beautiful colors reflected her vibrant personality and love for all things bright and beautiful. Jo was an old soul, mature beyond her years and a deep thinker. Days before she passed, she asked her nurse, "What if you were walking in a dark forest and chose to take the broken path, but it turned out to be the path you were meant to take?". She admired her older sister, Isabelle, and shared her interests. She preferred to spend time with older kids and her mom's friends. She would keep her mom up at night asking questions about life scenarios and why things are the way they are; her curiosity about life was endless. Jocelyn wanted to grow up; she wanted to get married and have kids. She enjoyed jokes, riddles, and conversations about the universe and all the "what ifs" of life.

Jocelyn had a natural talent for creating things. She loved making slime, collecting Squishmallows and other squishy toys, and trying every crafting kit she could get her hands on. She loved jewelry, bracelets and rings with crystals and gems, never leaving the house without them. During the summer of 2025, she taught herself how to play the keyboard by listening to music and watching tutorials. Jo loved being outside just as much as she loved making things at home. Jo, her mom, and her sister shared countless adventures in the Pacific; they went on hikes, took train rides, visited parks and museums, went to amusement parks, explored new foods and restaurants, and spent days at the beach.

Jo was passionate about riding her bike and loved the freedom of being outdoors, especially with her best friend Brooke. They would ride around all day, stopping to play at the skate park, grabbing snacks from the store, and daring to ride down the big hills at the playground. She embraced her independence and loved the thrill of speed. Her photo gallery will show you that she had a special admiration for race cars and motorcycles; she took countless pictures while she was out exploring.

On October 22, 2025, Jocelyn was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer. She received most of her treatment in Nevada at Cure 4 the Kids Foundation and the Children's Oncology floor at the Summerlin hospital. She endured nine months of chemotherapy, undergoing three different chemotherapy regimens in the fight for her life. This was not something she wanted; she knew it was the only chance she had at saving her life. She wanted to know everything that was happening with her body, she made her mom promise to tell her everything. Despite these treatments, her cancer continued to progress. She was incredibly brave throughout her treatment, she learned how to advocate for herself and to speak up when she felt something was not right.

Initially, cancer was in her left femur; it made her knee swell, and it was painful for Jo to move and walk. After five rounds of chemotherapy, Jo underwent limb-salvage surgery, during which most of her femur and her knee were removed and replaced with metal hardware. She spent her 12th birthday in the hospital recovering from surgery and faced the difficult challenge of learning how to walk and use her leg again. Despite everything she endured, she continued to face each new challenge with remarkable strength and determination. She had hope that every setback and treatment would save her life. Two months after her surgery, she learned that her cancer had metastasized and spread to her lungs. Her family changed chemotherapy treatment for the third time, in hopes of killing the cancerous cells that were invading the healthy tissues in her body. Four months after her surgery, they learned that her cancer was still spreading and she would eventually have radiation treatments to her spine, right eye, and jaw in an effort to control her pain, stop the growth of the tumors, and give her a better quality of life.

Jocelyn and her mom traveled across the country seeking clinical trials and treatment options at UCLA, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Children's Primary Hospital. Her mom teamed with her oncologists and reached out to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Stanford, MD Anderson, and Seattle Children's Hospital. They left no stone unturned in their search for hope and treatment options. Jo's journey exposed the devastating reality of pediatric osteosarcoma, a rare cancer with limited treatment options, particularly for children.

Through everything she experienced, Jocelyn wanted her story to be told. She wanted greater awareness of osteosarcoma so that other children might recognize the warning signs earlier and doctors could develop more effective treatments for kids. She wanted her suffering to mean something and hoped that sharing her journey could make a difference for children diagnosed in the future.

Days before she passed away, she asked that her doctors collect and study her tumors in the hope that researchers could find a cure. She wanted no other child to endure what she had endured and no other mother to experience the heartbreak of losing a child to osteosarcoma.

Honoring her wish, pathologists at Primary Children's Hospital in Utah collected 11 vials of Jocelyn's tumor tissue. By giving researchers the opportunity to learn from her cancer, Jo left behind a gift that may help advance scientific understanding and contribute to better treatments for future patients.

Jocelyn gave the most precious gift a person could give to science: the opportunity to learn from her life in the hope of saving others.

In the midst of her cancer journey, her mom made a point to make sure Jocelyn lived her life to the fullest. They went to concerts and shows, on shopping sprees for beautiful dresses, squishies, and blind boxes. They took trips to the park to feed the ducks, and got dressed up to go to fancy restaurants. She ate all her favorite foods whenever she had an appetite for them, including chicken soft tacos, lobster, steak, ramen, and yakiniku. She visited with her family and rested when she needed to.

In June, with the help of friends, Jocelyn started crossing things off her bucket list. A few of the most special things she experienced on her bucket list included visiting a wedding dress boutique to try on wedding dresses and getting her makeup professionally done. She got a pair of her own Meta glasses. She went to a professional salon with her sister and got her nails done, long pink nails with 3D flowers, butterflies, and sparkly gems. She spent a getaway weekend in the penthouse at the Paris hotel with her sister and her mom; the hotel made a special gesture, changing the Eiffel Tower lights to purple for Jocelyn. She went on an invite-only cruise directly through the dancing Bellagio Fountains while they were in motion, on a custom-made 33-foot Italian Riva Anniversario yacht, and she was able to pick three songs for them to play during the fountain show. Jocelyn and her family made the most of their time together and created many unforgettable memories.

Jo became especially fond of glitter and makeup. She was always a beautiful girl; during her treatment, they helped her feel as beautiful on the outside as she had always been on the inside. She loved her family more than anything else in the world. She loved her pets, her cat, Cleo, and her two dogs, Kuma and Bruno. She traveled the world with them and loved to cuddle. In August 2026, she asked for her very own kitten as part of her Make-A-Wish. She found her "baby" at the Animal Foundation, a black and white, 8-week-old, long-haired cat named Sophia. She told her mom that when she looked at Sophia, she would hear the song "Pretty Little Baby" by Connie Francis in her head. Her family was able to bring Sophia to be with Jocelyn in the hospital when she passed away.

Jocelyn will be remembered for so much more than the illness that took her from this world. She was a daughter, a sister, a best friend, an artist, a music lover, an adventurer, a deep thinker, and a girl whose curiosity and personality filled every room she entered. She brought warmth, laughter, creativity, and happiness to the people around her, leaving a lasting impression on everyone fortunate enough to know her.

Though her life was far too short, Jocelyn's impact will continue through the memories she created, the people who loved her, and the research made possible by her final wish.

Her family will carry her spirit forward by creating a non-profit in her name - Jojo Fierce Foundation- to share her story and advocate for greater awareness, more research, and better treatment options for children with osteosarcoma.

She will be loved, remembered, and missed beyond measure.

If you'd like to help support Jocelyn's wish, please make any donations to Jocelyn's GoFundMe while her family works on setting up the Jojo Fierce Foundation https://gofund.me/6c20f8c32

Donations can also be made in Jocelyn's name to the foundations that supported her through her journey:

Glimmers Foundation: https://givebutter.com/honoring-jocelyn-mead-4yzywz

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation https://www.alexslemonade.org/contribute/7

Candelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada https://www.candlelightersnv.org/make-a-difference/donate.html

Zo's Bravehearts Foundation https://www.zbfnv.org/donate.php

Oliver Patch Project https://www.oliverpatchproject.org/donate

Liv Like a Unicorn Foundation https://my.onecause.com/fundraiser/organizations/01303ded-b158-4670-914a-404ee6af3581/fundraisers/fundraiser:089c2b3f-bc4e-4aba-97dc-599e71f6eae1/friendly

Make-A-Wish Nevada https://wish.org/nv?form=083-000

Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation https://nvccf.org/donate/