A memorial service for Jennifer Lynn Stearns, a ValuJet Airlines flight attendant who died in Saturday's crash of Flight 592 in Florida, will be at 7 p.m. Monday at Farmers Branch Church of Christ.

Separately, a fund was established in Ms. Stearns' name to provide emotional and financial support for family and friends of the five-member Dallas-based crew. If enough money is raised, there are plans to establish an organization to help victims of future air disasters.

Ms. Stearns, 21, was a 1994 graduate of R. L. Turner High School, where she was a member of the Show Choir and vice president of the school's chapter of Distributive Educational Clubs of America, a vocational education program, said her mother, Debra Stearns of Farmers Branch.

Kim Baas, an investigator with the Farmers Branch Police Department, remembers Ms. Stearns as captain of Explorer Post 676, a group that introduces young people to police work.

"She was a leader and kept them in line," Ms. Baas said. "She was outgoing and diligent. She wanted to become an officer."

Ms. Stearns was born in St. Louis and moved to the Dallas area in 1980. She had worked for ValuJet for 18 months.

Ms. Stearns had planned to spend Saturday shopping for Mother's Day with her sister but was called by the airline to substitute for her best friend, who was ill.

Ms. Stearns was among 110 people who died in the crash.

In addition to her mother, Ms. Stearns is survived by her father, Karl Stearns of Farmers Branch; a sister, Jill Marie Stearns of Farmers Branch; her grandparents, John and Giesla Stearns of Grand Prairie and Richard and Shirley Schweigler of St. Louis; and a great-grandmother, Hilda Botzenmayer of Munich, Germany.

Memorials may be made to the Jennifer Stearns Flight 592 Memorial Support Fund, First Interstate Bank, P.O. Box 650291, Branch Code: 5311-011, Dallas, Texas 75265-0291

The Dallas Morning News - May 17, 1996
Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams

VALUJET AIRLINES FLIGHT 592
On May 11, 1996, the DC-9 aircraft began a normal climb, then asked air traffic control for a return to Miami and reported smoke in the cockpit and cabin.  The plane disappeared from radar and was found to have crashed in uninhabited territory inside the Florida Everglades.  All 110 passengers and flight crew died in the crash.
 

CREW

Captain Candalyn "Candy" Kubeck, Bedford, Texas First Officer Richard "Rich" Hazen, Mieola, Texas L1 Flight Attendant Jennifer Stearns, Farmers Branch, Texas R1 Flight Attendant Lori Cushing, Austin, Texas L2 Flight Attendant Mandy Summers, Irving, Texas

There are numerous articles on the crash on the internet.

Memorial to the victims of Valuejet Flight 592
 

Submitted by Edward Lynn Williams