Burbank mom grieving for loss of two sons in crash

BURBANK -- A Burbank mother grieving for her two sons who were killed minutes from home Friday now must also worry about how to keep the rest of her family together.

Lucia Mendez spent Monday making funeral arrangements for her teenage sons. But it won't be the first children she's buried.

Three years ago, her 3-month-old son died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and a daughter was stillborn in 1989.

The single mother now faces raising her 13-year-old daughter and a disabled son without the help of their brothers.

Jorge "Georgie" Daniel Mendez, 17, and Jesus Jaime "JJ" Mendez, 19, died when their car collided with a semi-truck around 9 p.m. Friday on Highway 12 at Humorist Road in Burbank.

Jorge had battled leukemia since 2004 and just returned home Thursday after another round of treatments in Spokane, said his mother.

Monday was supposed to be his first day back at Columbia High School this year.

"We're at a loss for words right now," his aunt, Maria Campos, said Monday from her Pasco home. "Everything's been so difficult. We're just overwhelmed with everything."

Campos, who helped translate for Mendez who speaks Spanish, said the family spent all day at the funeral home and cemetery trying to get everything organized.

Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home in Pasco is in charge of the arrangements, which are expected to be finalized today.

JJ was the quieter of the two boys, and liked watching car races, drawing and going fishing. He had gone to Columbia High through the 10th grade, then helped care for his older brother when his mother was at her job at Tyson Foods.

Juan Antonio "Johnny" Mendez, 20, became mentally disabled after he contracted spinal meningitis when he was 10 months old, Campos said.

JJ also watched out for Jorge, and their younger sister, Jazmine, a seventh-grader at Columbia Middle School.

Jorge also helped care for Johnny and liked farming and driving the tractor around the farm, his mother said. And he really enjoyed playing with the disc jockey system he received from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, she said.

"He was a very happy child," Mendez said. "He was very loving and always showed affection" to his friends and family.

Jorge was diagnosed with acute leukemia in 2004 and had a bone marrow transplant in 2005 and again in 2006. He had just been in Spokane for a dialysis-type procedure involving his white blood cells, she said.

The leukemia hadn't reappeared, she said, but Jorge's body was rejecting the bone marrow transplant.

The mounting medical bills already were putting a financial strain on Mendez, Campos said. Just one bill that arrived recently was for $180,000.

While Mendez has insurance and some of the cancer treatments were covered by Medicaid, it's still not enough to keep her from getting behind in her house payments, said her sister-in-law.

She doesn't want to lose her home or another son.

"One of her biggest concerns is with the social worker with Johnny, who had talked (earlier) about putting him in a home with other mentally delayed children," Campos said. "It just ripped her heart out. She didn't want to do that to her son, but now there's no one to help out and that's maybe one of the tougher situations she has to do."

Mendez, 39, can't stay home from work to care for him, Campos said. She hasn't had time to figure out what happens next.

One thing Mendez has been thankful for is the opportunity to see her brother, whom she last saw 24 years ago when she left Mexico to come to the United States.

Damian Palominos, 26, who was just 2 at the time, is currently living and working in Texas, but will return to Mexico when his work visa expires at the end of the month.

On Saturday, his employer helped make arrangements and loaned him money so he could come to the Tri-Cities.

"He has to go back to Mexico on Nov. 30, but he got permission to stay for one week," Campos said. "It's been great to have him here as a support system."

The Mendez brothers were passengers in a 2004 Suzuki driven by friend and former classmate Daniel Varela, 18, of Burbank. Varela had been in satisfactory condition Saturday night at Kennewick General Hospital, but a nursing supervisor said Monday that he no longer was listed as a patient.

The teens were heading west on Highway 12 turning left to go south on Humorist Road when they were hit on the passenger side by a tractor-trailer rig.

The semi-truck, driven by James Donald Kooch, 61, of Hermiston, was driving east on Highway 12 from the Tri-Cities.

The Washington State Patrol's major accident team is expected to be here Wednesday to help investigate what happened.

Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home is taking donations to help the Mendez family. An account for Lucia Mendez also has been established at Gesa Credit Union.

Matthew Berube, manager of the Burbank Public Library, said they have created a blog to provide information about the teens and their family at jorgeandjesus.blog spot.com.

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