Jennifer Ellen (Kassube) Scherf

Jennifer passed away August 29, 2024, after a brief illness. She was a member of Saint Clement of Rome Catholic Church in Sun City, Arizona. Jenny was born on November 7, 1942, in Washington, D.C. She grew up in Springfield, Illinois and graduated from Cathedral Grade School and from Ursaline Academy in 1960. She went on to become a Registered Nurse after graduating from Saint Mary’s School of Nursing in Illinois in 1963. On September 2, 1967, she married James A. Scherf at Little Flower Church in Springfield, Illinois.
Jenny was loved and cherished by her family and friends. She lived her life fully, with the goal of spreading love and kindness to very person she encountered. She was quick to compliment, praise, and hug others, with the goal bringing happiness to their day. People who knew Jenny often referred to her as a “pure soul”, almost to perfect for this world. She saw the best in everyone. In addition to loving and caring for her husband and daughters, she had loving relationships with her siblings and son-in-law and shared in the joys and sorrows of her grandsons, nieces, and nephews as if they were her own children.
Jenny’s nursing career began at Memorial Hospital in Springfield. She then worked as a public health nurse for the Denver, Colorado Visiting Nurse Service and subsequently for Jackson County, Illinois Visiting Nurse Service. She raised two daughters and participated in numerous activities related to their schools in Decatur and Palatine, Illinois. In the late 1980s, she returned to nursing in Springfield, working for the Women’s, Infant’s and Children’s program. In her later years, she volunteered with several charitable organizations that allowed her to continue spreading love and kindness.
She is survived by her husband James; two daughters, Mary “Molly” Scherf and Kathleen (William) Mayers; two grandchildren, Brian and Michael Mayers; brother Richard (Debbie) Kassube; sisters Karen Alderman and Dee Ann Podshadley; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her brothers-in-law, Charles (Ted) Alderman and William (Bill) Podshadley.
A Memorial Service will be September 13th, 2024 at St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church in Sun City, Arizona starting at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.