# Remembering Jolyn Denning **URL:** \ **Category:** Community\ **Created:** [September 13, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/remembering-jolyn-denning/50083 "2026-09-13T00:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grace](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/grace/32/16942_2.png) [@grace](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/grace)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/remembering-jolyn-denning/50083/1 "2026-09-13T00:05:02Z")
We are greatly saddened to share that Jolyn Denning has passed away. Many in the OpenMRS community knew Jolyn earlier in her life as Joel Denning (@joeldenning) and may remember her from that time through the mentorship, friendship, and remarkable contributions she shared. Jolyn was a brilliant engineer and prolific open source maintainer/contributor - she created [Single-Spa](https://single-spa.js.org/) and was an [early pioneer](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/micro-frontends-architecture-for-openmrs/22557/17) of the microfrontends initiative, what is now O3, which has had an impact already on hundreds (if not thousands) of health facilities around the world. But even more important was how she invested in people. Many of us owe key steps in our career journeys to her mentorship and belief in us. Behind the scenes, she often spent copious hours late into the night messaging people, sharing her own life experiences and ideas. **Please share your fond memories of Jolyn** - whether you knew her as Jolyn or as Joel. If she mentored you, worked alongside you, helped you find your way in our community, or simply made an impression on you, please share a story or memory below. Obituary: [broomheadfuneralhome.com/obituary/joel-denning](http://broomheadfuneralhome.com/obituary/joel-denning) _Kindly adhere to [Community Guidelines](https://talk.openmrs.org/guidelines) in your posts._ ---
**Author:** ![dkayiwa](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/dkayiwa/32/179_2.png) [@dkayiwa](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/dkayiwa)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2026, 7:42am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/remembering-jolyn-denning/50083/2 "2026-09-13T07:42:04Z")
This is so so sad!!! I will never forget those early days when OpenMRS was trying to get into deep JavaScript client side rendering of our user interface, with no community experts in this area. And then Joel came onboard and took us there. Will be greatly missed by our community!!! ---
**Author:** ![jwnasambu](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/jwnasambu/32/13543_2.png) [@jwnasambu](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/jwnasambu)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2026, 12:53pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/remembering-jolyn-denning/50083/3 "2026-09-13T12:53:14Z")
Its heartbreaking to hear of his passing! My heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and everyone in the OpenMRS community who had the privilege of knowing him. May his memory continue to inspire us to invest in others the way he did. ---
**Author:** ![bawanthathilan](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/bawanthathilan/32/22532_2.png) [@bawanthathilan](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/bawanthathilan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 6:13am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/remembering-jolyn-denning/50083/4 "2026-09-14T06:13:30Z")
My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends ---
**Author:** ![dennis](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/dennis/32/22225_2.png) [@dennis](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/dennis)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 9:49am UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/remembering-jolyn-denning/50083/5 "2026-09-14T09:49:41Z")
I’m very gutted to hear about Jolyn’s passing. My thoughts go out to their friends, family, and everyone whose life they touched. I’m certainly one of them. I remember working with Jolyn in our little office at AMPATH at the start of the O3 project. We were taken aback by how quickly they got to grips with our codebase and began contributing meaningfully to it. The contributions just kept on coming, and it became clear very quickly how brilliant they were as an engineer. Many of us still carry the maintainer mindset we learned from them. Many will remember Jolyn as a brilliant engineer, a gentle soul, and an incredible mentor. May their soul rest in eternal peace. ---
**Author:** ![josephkagimu1](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/josephkagimu1/32/22262_2.png) [@josephkagimu1](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/josephkagimu1)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/remembering-jolyn-denning/50083/6 "2026-09-14T14:16:21Z")
@joeldenning This is so so sad!!! , I have tried investigating about Joel Denning , and got enough info , that the death of this individual , is really a big loss to the community , sorry . ---
**Author:** ![burke](https://talk.openmrs.org/user_avatar/talk.openmrs.org/burke/32/17_2.png) [@burke](https://talk.openmrs.org/u/burke)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 2:28pm UTC](https://talk.openmrs.org/t/remembering-jolyn-denning/50083/8 "2026-09-17T14:28:52Z")
We were incredibly lucky to have known her and benefited from her brilliance. Her time was too short, but the world is certainly better off because of her.