Ledyard — Jenna Foltz was the kind of kid who would find an earthworm in the yard, rinse it off in the bird bath, put it on a swing and sing to it.

Stories like these told by family and friends at Foltz's memorial service and reception last week highlighted her kindness toward others and the passion she had for the arts and the outdoors.

Foltz, who would have turned 16 this past weekend, died Jan. 23 at Yale New Haven Hospital. She was born with elastin arteriopathy, a condition caused by a mutation on chromosome 7 that causes arteries to grow unevenly. Over the course of her life, she had undergone five surgeries to fix narrowed arteries.

Her mother, Brenda, said although Jenna served as a heart health advocate as early as elementary school, when she would speak during assemblies throughout the district during the annual Jump Rope for Heart campaign, she wasn't going to be defined by the medical condition.

She said Jenna's favorite subject was chorus, and the house was quieter now that she wasn't constantly playing music of some sort. She had recently started going to a local studio to record songs with a friend she met at CTHeart Camp, a summer camp for children with congenital heart disease run by medical staff from Yale-New Haven Hospital.

"She always sang from the heart in rehearsal and in performance," said Melanie Cometa, chorus teacher at Ledyard High School. Jenna had been in the school's Chorale ensemble, and Cometa said she always sang with the music's deeper meaning in mind.

She recalled last year's spring Pops concert in which Jenna "danced her heart out" alongside her classmates as they sang "Get On Your Feet" by Gloria Estefan, and she noted her ability to connect and communicate with audiences at their concerts.

Cometa said students are responsible for setting up their chairs at the beginning of class, and when the ensemble met on Jan. 27, Jenna's classmates insisted they set up a chair for her so she could be with them during rehearsal.

English teacher Claire Malavazos said Jenna had the biggest heart of anyone she has met. Very observant even in a large class, she always noticed and stepped in when a classmate was having a rough day, and she surprised Malavazos by drawing her a Harry Potter-themed picture for Christmas.

"She was just a bulb of light," Malavazos said.

Russ Correia, owner and head instructor at Red Tiger Kajukenbo, where Jenna had taken karate for 10 years, said the room lit up when she was there. He said she was an ambassador for achieving your fullest potential, and she lifted up her fellow students by focusing on their needs and motivating them.

She had earned her brown belt before switching to tai chi because of her condition, and he named her an honorary black belt after she died to recognize her leadership in the dojo.

Jenna was also involved with 4-H, which her father, Steve, said combined all the things she loved at school and at home, especially the drama, art and outdoor programs at the summer camp where she was a junior counselor. He said she thrived there and made friends easily.

He said so many of her peers from various circles wanted to speak at the service that they had to finish their stories during the reception.

"I thought it was good to hear from them," he said, "good for the students that wanted to say something and good for other students to hear it from students, too, which made them all want to go up (and speak)."

"It kind of showed us things that we hadn't heard or seen about Jenna," added Brenda, citing several classmates who said Jenna had been the first person to greet them on their first day of school in a new district and incorporate them into her friend groups.

She said Jenna's mantra had been "Be brave, be kind," and the high school will be using that and pieces of her poetry on T-shirts, magnets, stickers and other materials for a Valentine's Day fundraiser for a scholarship in her name. The dojo will also be hosting a "kick-a-thon" fundraiser for CTHeart Camp, which received donations in lieu of flowers at her service.

a.hutchinson@theday.com