The Danielle Rippeon Nemetz you will not learn about through a jury trial; this is Danielle honored by friends and strangers

This is Danielle Rippeon Nemetz.

This is a post about this lovely young  woman and honoring her memory.

Although I have posts on the jury trial, I am not going to link them in this post because this is Danielle's space. 

I spoke with and have been corresponding with family friend James Peltier. Here is what he has to say about Danielle:

"The first time I met Danielle was when she was about 4 years old. At that time in my life I was working a logging job that started very early in the morning and it usually had me home by about 3:30pm. It was a warm summer, so we had a small kiddie pool set up in the yard of the duplex that we had just moved into. Our daughter Micaela who was about 2 years old at the time was at her grandmother's house in another town and my wife Samantha would pick her up on the way home. Often I would get home from work and have the house to myself. I would often shower, put my swimwear on, grab a couple of cold beers. I would go out and lay down submersed in the kiddie pool quietly, and drink my beer. The day I met Danielle I had just got into the pool and had dunked my head under, and as I came up wiping the water out of my eyes, I heard a small voice asking me, "Mister, Can I swim in your pool?" I thought I was hearing things and as I looked around behind me, there, on the other side of our cyclone fence, was Danielle. She was very small and smiling, she already had her swimsuit on and a towel over her shoulder that was dragging the ground.

I got out of the pool and questioned her about how she got back to our drive way, asked her where she came from and where her parents were and if they knew where she was. She told me she didn't have a mom and dad anymore and that she lived with her grandma in the same duplex that we lived in. So I told her that I needed to talk to her grandma. We went over and met Scarlett and shared the details of our lives and was also introduced to all of Danielle's siblings. After talking with Scarlet for a while Danielle and I walked back to our place with quiet little Miki in tow in her swimsuit too. About the time we got to the pool and the girls had jumped right in and were splashing around, my wife pulled into the driveway with Micaela. Micaela got out of the car and she looked a little offended that there were 2 girls she didn't know who were swimming in her pool. They met and after a few minutes of kids being kids, they made the connections and became best friends. Every day that summer, after that, when I would come home from work, there would be Miki and Danielle waiting in swimsuits with their towels, outside the fenced yard, staring at the pool. Needless to say, my relaxing time in the pool was over, I was evicted from my own pool. And the girls all stuck together from that point on. We would take them often when we went out to dinner or the movies or the river, and even when we went camping to Trinity Lake. I often talked to Scarlett and she often talked me about God and going to church. I had a passion for playing acoustic guitar and singing songs that I had heard on the radio. Almost always when I would start playing my guitar Danielle would appear out of nowhere and she'd come and join in singing too. Danielle loved singing!  A few years went by and my wife and I bought a house just up the street from where we had been renting. So we all stayed very close and we all ended up going to the same church together for many years. I ended up joining the church band and the girls all sang on the choir together. Danielle often sang a very special song called  "Living Testimony" by Jim E. Davis. She'd get up on stage standing so small but she belted it out so loud! Talk about uplifting! You really had to be there! 

 Years flew by and the kids grew. In their teens, hardship struck again when Scarlet had to have heart bypass surgery. Scarlett came out of the surgery quite well and for a day everything was good but then a blood clot went to her brain and she had a stroke and basically became a vegetable. She couldn't communicate and could only mumble and she cried a lot. Miki's dad, Mike Boulton, who lived with Scarlet and the kids ultimately took over the raising and day to day care of Danielle and her siblings, as well as taking care of Scarlett and he even bought a wheel chair van and took them all to church every Sunday. On weekday church nights and Sunday school mornings, Miki and Danielle would ride with us to church and Mike would bring Scarlett later when worship service started mid morning. It was a tough road for them I am certain, but we were always there with open doors and open arms to help with anything that was needed. A few more years went by and Scarlett died. Such a sad day for everyone. I was asked to be a pallbearer for Scarlett and I wholeheartedly accepted. Before Scarlett's stroke, she and I would often talk and in that I learned about Scarlett's desires for the kids if anything should happen to her, or them. I don't recall exactly when Danielle started calling my wife and I "mommy" and "daddy" but I believe it was after Scarlett died. We never discouraged it and we often replied "daughter" with a smile. Danielle was a firework. She was full of enthusiasm and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty and she always pitched in and helped, no matter if it was something like cleaning a small mess or as hard as stacking firewood and pushing the lawn mower. We lived our lives remodeling our home and reconstructing the landscaping of our yard and raising pigs, chickens, rabbits, and a garden. So sometimes there were some tough messes. We'd work and clean and when the work was done we would have bbq's or go out to dinner or just get pizza and play in the pool. "Relaxing" wasn't really a word that was used very often at our house. We were always busy and the kids were as thick as thieves. I'm not going to sugar coat it because whenever you have more than one kid playing together there is going to be some trouble and some discipline issues. But for the most part they were really good kids. We bought a much bigger swimming pool and the kids spent lots of time playing together. There were a lot of these times. Miki, Micaela and Danielle... or the MMD Show as I called it. They were a riot. The played hard together building forts and riding bikes. They ran back and forth from our house to their a hundred times a day it seemed. They were everywhere together. They were ours. Those were some of the happiest times of our lives."

The second memory is from Charlotte Lee:

I never expected to find myself writing a letter about someone who I did not know and never had the chance to meet. However, Danielle is a different story. As a former military wife, living in Lakewood WA in October of 2014, I was struck with the news of a local  military wife who was shot by her husband. You always hear about military men and women referring to themselves as one big family. The same thing can be said for military wives. We look at each other as a big family.  I found myself stuck to my computer screen, reading up on every update and story about her. I could not understand how this could happen, why it happened and if this person was guilty for it. After more research, I came across a beautiful and funny young woman's " Get ready with me" YouTube video. I instantly saw a happy, sweet, caring and loving personality. I saw a person who reminded me of my own friend. It's amazing how much love this young woman had from her friends, family and community. Seeing everyone come together, and find support and justice for this beautiful soul, just showed how wonderful she was. She brought a lot of us together. Strength has been the biggest characteristic shown through out this. The strength from those who knew her to keep going and the strength she must of had for all she endured in her own life. I felt connected because of all this. I understand struggle and so did she. Danielle and I may have never met, but  I wish we had. I would have found a great friend in her. No matter how cliche that might sound, it's true. Danielle is going to live on through all the love she showed other, the funny sweet personality she had and the wonderful beauty she possessed! 

The third is a letter:

Danielle

I never thought I would be in this position to be writing a letter for one of my best friends who was brutally murdered, but here I am. I don’t want to speak of the trial, or my opinions of Skylar and his family. I want to bring Danielle’s spirit, innocence, wildness, creativeness, humor, and beauty to life. This little girl was a firecracker. She was the most kind-hearted person I knew who could change her mood in a mere second. She had a motherly instinct, which I thought was interesting considering her mother died when she was young. I can rely that instinct to others in our small community like Samantha Minton, Erin (our cheer coach) and I’m sure others who acted like a mother to Danielle. She was so protective, especially when something happened to someone she loved. I remember one time I had this boyfriend who wasn’t treating me very fairly and she wanted to go beat him up. Keep in mind this girl is around five feet tall and maybe 110 pounds. I loved that about her, the instinctual side of her to protect those around her. She was also so independent, not ever caring what people thought of her and she was always so mature about everything. If you didn’t want to do something, perhaps confront someone about an issue you had, she would make you do it because she knew that in the end, it would only help you as a person. From the beginning, Danielle loved fashion and beauty. She had her own YouTube channel and she wanted to be a “Beauty Guru,” a new popular trend among the video blogger community. I remember one time before a football game my friends and I wanted her to curl our hair and do our makeup. Boy to my surprise, I showed up at that game looking like Shirley Temple because I could see how happy it made her just to have a passion for something like that. From that point forward, I knew she wanted to take that route with her life. Another thing I loved about Danielle was her quirky side. If you knew her personally, you were familiar with her famous Danielle ‘Bear’ Hugs. Basically, she would spot you from a distance and start running full speed at you, whether you were looking or not, and hit you like a freight train. While painful at times, you couldn’t help but appreciate them. Looking back on it, I would take a million of those hugs despite the pain that accompanied them. While Danielle and I met when I was in middle school, she and I started to really get into cheerleading together. We had this passion to do partner stunting together, and we did it. We had a small photo shoot at a local park of ours and sure enough, I lifted that little girl to the top of my shoulders, where she stood tall and as beautiful and powerful as ever. That’s the thing about her, despite her size, she was the one I looked up to. She was the strongest, strong-willed, and most head strong girl person I’ve ever met. I regret not doing more to convince her to stay home, instead of moving away with Skylar. But at the same time, her home life wasn’t the best so I felt like this was the opportunity she was waiting for. She could go to a bigger area to follow her dreams and pursue a career within the beauty community. So after prodding and nudging her to stay, I finally just told her that she needs to do what makes her happy. She told me that she needed to get away, but that Humboldt County would always be her home, and we would always be her family. I regret that once she settled into another state, she and I weren’t as close as we used to be. I regret that I wasn’t there enough for her, and that she felt she couldn’t reach out to me when she felt alone, hurt, or scared. And finally, I regret that she felt she couldn’t tell me about the abuse she was experiencing. If you knew Danielle and the situation, you would know how she wanted to hide the abuse, almost to prove all of us wrong at home: that she was truly happy in her marriage. Looking back, we know that wasn’t the case. No matter the outcome, I will always remember Danielle to be the strong, independent, beautiful, and most caring person I’ve ever met. Fly high baby girl.

 With much love,

Janna Marie Rosdahl

I feel I cannot do my'' Danielle Memory'' justice until I first let you all know the love she was born into. My name is Nina and Danielle's mom Liz was my 1st cousin.  Actually, she was more than my cousin, she was my good friend.  All of us cousins were very close  growing up.  We spent lots of holidays and weekends together as children.  Danielle's grandma Scarlett was my aunt and served as a 2nd mother to a lot of us cousins.  .   

      Danielle was born January 11, 1995 & was the 3rd child born to Liz.  She was 7 weeks early and weighed a little over 2 lbs.  She was rushed to San Francisco immediately after she was born & was not expected to live thru the night.  However, nobody knew the will that tiny baby had.  Day after day she continued to prove  the Drs wrong.  She survived everything that was thrown her way.....  Danielle was 3 when her mom passed away from cancer and Aunt Scarlett stepped up to the plate to raise her grandchildren. Though they never had a lot of money, love was in abundance.

       My "Danielle Memory" takes me back to the day of my wedding, July 07, 2007.  I saw my new husband over in the corner talking to Danielle & laughing.  Later that night he asked me, "who was that little girl with the glasses"?  I told him she was Liz's daughter & he said oh that makes sense.(as Liz was a say what's on her mind kinda person)  After asking him Why,  he started chuckling and said she sure has your family figured out...Huh? I responded...Well, she came up to me & said" welcome to the family uncle Jimmy...We are all a little crazy but after a while we grow on you!"  Now every time I think of my wedding that story is the 1st thing that pops in my mind.

      Everyday I am learning more and more of the lovely young woman Danielle grew to be.  Her motherly nature, her love for her friends, her love for her family, her readiness to share her opinion and her extreme love of beauty and make up.  It is humbling to say I was a" crazy" relative of Terrah Danielle Rippeon

                                                                               Nina Fike   XOXO