jennyo Funeral services for state Senator Jenny Oropeza, whose death at age 53 Wednesday night left a stunned stillness in the political circles she had enlivened with her energy for more than three decades, will be held today at 1 p.m. The ceremony will be conducted at Forest Lawn in Cypress (4471 Lincoln Ave.) in the Church of Our Fathers. It is open to the public.

So resilient was Oropeza’s spirit that her constant rise through the political strata, which began with two terms as student body president at Long Beach State, continued even after she contracted liver cancer in 2004.

By that time she had served on the Long Beach Unified School District board, on the Long Beach City Council and in the state Assembly. She went on to win her state Senate seat in 2006, then took a run at  before winning her state Senate seat in 2006.

One of Oropeza’s few defeats came in a run for congress in 2007, when the unexpected death of Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald created an open seat that attracted a large field of candidates. Then-Assemblywoman Laura Richardson won the bruising campaign, partly by attacking Oropeza’s attendance record—apparently including absences that were due to Oropeza’s cancer treatment.

But Oropeza was less than two weeks away from what looked like another victory—she was seeking re-election to the state senate on Nov. 2—when she went to the hospital Wednesday complaining of shortness of breath. She died at about 9:50 p.m.