Finlayson’s grace was inspiring
Young coach never allowed battle with cancer to take away her joy for life
As cancer, chemicals and radiation wrecked her body, Jess Finlayson never stopped doing what all great teachers do. She inspired.
Her death at the age of 28 last Friday did not signify a loss in her battle with brain cancer.
It was a win, a magnificent and glorious victory for the beloved Northampton High School girls volleyball coach that assured her legacy will last forever for everyone she touched.
And then some.
“I’m just amazed at all of the people who have come out and said, ‘She was a wonderful teacher, she was my favorite coach, she touched me in this way, she was such an inspiration,’ ” her mother, Jean Dalstad, said. “It’s just so nice to hear all that from so many people.”
“Her strength and her resiliency was so inspiring throughout her entire journey,” said Lindsey Nemeth, one of four captains on Finlayson’s final team. “Despite her situation, she always put team before her personal challenges, and her love for the game of volleyball was most certainly undeniable. She spread her enthusiasm throughout the team.
“Looking back, it definitely made everyone she impacted a lot stronger and a lot more thankful for the simple things in life that some of us take for granted.”
Always a smile
Though her ordeal was devastating from the time she was diagnosed in 2018, Finlayson embraced it and always made sure to keep it personal, not public.
“She always had a smile on her face,” Dalstad said as she was going through a photo album at her home. “We’re looking through pictures here and she was getting chemo. I have a picture of her sitting here with an IV in her arm getting chemo and she’s smiling, eating potato chips.
“She just always ... loved life,” interjected Finlayson’s boyfriend, Tyler Smith. “I never heard her complain once about it. Never. Not once.”
Said Northampton athletic director Shaun Murray: “She maintained an
amazing outlook throughout the entire process, continued to coach, continued to stay involved as a player as well during her club events and also with grad school. She never slowed down> She did everything she could to keep pushing through, and she’s absolutely one of the toughest people I ever met.
“She was an inspiration. She really was. Her outlook the entire time was just total positivity. You know, even on the days when she was struggling, she just kept pushing, and I know the girls appreciated it [and] the coaches appreciated it.”
Education first
Learning she had a terminal illness did not change the Lebanon Valley College graduate’s plans to pursue a master’s degree, which she received in December 2019 — 18 months after being diagnosed with a malignant Grade III astrocytoma, a rare, incurable condition that could mean death by slow torture for some.
Not Finlayson.
“Every day she kept pushing through, surgery after surgery, treatment after treatment,” assistant coach Doug Fehnel said. “And she kept coming back with a vengeance, coaching and playing and teaching.”
And continuing with her education.
That Finlayson did not drop out of grad school might be the most remarkable aspect of her story. She even continued with classes in 2020 after receiving her advanced degree.
Everything was going to go on like it went on before until she no longer could control it.
“The goals of the team were always placed before her own situation, which she most certainly didn’t have to do,” Nemeth marveled. “But that’s what she wanted to do.
“And she wanted to go through her journey and just proceed like she did before. This [season] she took a grad class ... and it was inspiring to see she wanted to still achieve her own personal goals while also going through her journey herself.”
Athlete, coach, warrior
This is what her student-athletes will take from Finlayson and transfer to their children: an eternal spirit.
“I had a conversation with Coach Finlayson this year,” Nemeth said, “and she was telling me how the volleyball court was one of the few places in her life where all the complexities and everything else would kind of disappear.
“Just seeing her smile and her glowing personality while playing volleyball and having those conversations with her just about how much she loved the game and she really wanted to be there, that really touched me, especially this past year.”
Added Mya Cascario, another team captain: “She was strong from the beginning and she really just prioritized not giving up and pushing out to the end, and that’s why she kept coaching and teaching until the very end, which was really brave of her.
“I’m glad that she did that. But I’m just — the thing that touched me most this [season] was that she showed up to every game despite how bad that she was doing, which I think was really inspiring to a lot of us.”
Lasting legacy
Last year, a virtual walk/run/ ride race was held in honor of “Team Jess.” That event is expected to become a yearly tradition.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the school can’t have any kind of public gathering to honor her memory. But more things are expected to be done to eventually make sure the legacy of Jessica Ann Finlayson carries on forever in the cement belt and beyond.
On Saturday, her friends get to say goodbye from 9-11:30 a.m. at Bethany Church, 3801 Brookside Road, Macungie. Face masks and social distancing will be required.
A private family service will be at noon. It can be viewed online at bethanyumchurch. com/watch.