Jeanne Marie Schaefer

Jeanne M. Schaefer passed away Sunday, March 16, 2025, at 83 years of age, after a long battle with cancer. She was born July 23, 1941, to Arnold and Margaret (nee Hoyman) VanDeraa in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Jeanne met her husband, Edwin P. Schaefer, in 1959 when he was on leave from the U.S. Army. He was smitten from their very first dance to the Everly Brothers’ song “Take a Message to Mary.” Jeanne and Ed loved to share the story of how they met, as that dance sparked a love between them that continued to grow even when he had to return to active duty. They began a correspondence, sending letters to one another, each of which Jeanne saved in a box and treasured for her entire life.

Jeanne and Ed cemented their love and commitment to one another, getting married on April 27, 1963, at St. John’s Catholic Church in Little Chute, Wisconsin. Jeanne’s wedding gown was something to behold. Her mother Margaret stitched the dress of silk and taffeta, by hand, adding a stunning twelve-foot ivory satin train and bejeweled tiara veil.

After their wedding, Jeanne and Ed began their life together. Ever since that first song, they loved to go dancing. Ed always marveled at her grace and skill on the dance floor and would beam with pride when other dancers would stop to watch them. He knew they were marveling at her too.

Jeanne graduated from Fox Valley Technical College and had a nineteen-year career as an Occupational Therapist at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the same hospital she was born. During her time as an OT, she cared for many patients in the hospital with her deep compassion for others. They often made ceramic pieces which many of her patients gifted to her as “Thank You’s” for her dedication and care through the years.

Jeanne was forced to give up her career after a car accident left her with a severe back injury. Always interested in art and creativity, she took up cross-stitching, completing over two hundred pieces in her lifetime. The very first she completed was titled “Mother” and was a gift to her own mother until she passed away. Everyone who came to Ed and Jeanne’s home were sure to see this piece, along with beautiful cross-stitch landscapes, flowers and idyllic scenes, which have all been hung in pride of place, decorating their home. Jeanne’s favorite of all, and the one for which she was most proud, is a 24x24” red rose, which she always mentioned, used over 100 different shades of red embroidery floss. It’s beauty and rich color mirror Jeanne’s own loveliness.

Jeanne and Ed adopted three children through Catholic Archdiocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, when they found they were unable to have biological children. Their son, Chad was the first to be adopted after he was born on Christmas Day, December 25, 1966. They could not have received a more blessed gift from God. On February 27, 1969, they were blessed with a daughter, also adopted through the Catholic Archdiocese, and named her Nicole. Jeanne and Nicole shared a special life-long mother-daughter bond until Nicole’s sudden death from heart failure in May of 2024. Jeanne and Ed’s youngest daughter Heather, was adopted on February 17, 1973, thus making their small family from God complete. As a family, the Schaefer’s loved to take vacations to northern Wisconsin in the summer months on beautiful lakes in the woods. Their favorite family activity when the children were young was the “Friday Night Fish Fry” that Wisconsin is famous for.

Jeanne is survived by her husband, Edwin P. Shaefer; her son, Chad M. Schaefer and his wife Eileen Schaefer; her daughter, Heather Collette-VanDeraa; her grandson, Rick Gasman Jr. and his wife Amanda; and her beautiful great-granddaughter Piper. She is also survived by two loving sisters Joyce Lennart and Carol Le Duc; her sisters-in-law, Nancy Schaefer and Lei Lewis-Jost; her brother-in-law Terry Schaefer; as well as many other nieces and nephews.

"Mother”

~Listener, teacher

And Miraculous blend

Of peacemaker, counselor

And the best kind of friend~