Jane Phyllis Stump Schen

Schen, Jane Phyllis Stump

Apr 6, 2025

Age 93 years old. Jane, or Mom to her children and Gigi to her granddaughter, was born in the papermill town of Johnsonburg, PA to Mathilda (nee Yaggie) and Clair W. Stump. She finished high school and began nursing school in her late teens at the EJ Meyer Hospital in Buffalo, which later was absorbed into Erie County Medical Center. She trained and worked there as a nurse until she had her first three children. As a nurse, she was also earning her "PhT," or putting-husband-through, enabling her husband, Charles R. Schen, to complete medical school and begin his residency. She worked in wards serving tuberculosis patients and those with polio, including children who lived in "iron lungs." Later in our adult lives we learned she also cared for women who had no access to safe abortions in the early 1950s and suffered complications. Her nursing experience formed her identity and informed values she sought to instill in her children. She and Charles, or Chuck, lived in Western New York, with a brief stay in Fort Myers, FL, through the more than 65 years of their marriage. In Hamburg, where they spent most of their married life and raised their (by then) four children and welcomed their grandchild, Jane was an active community member and volunteer. Jane and Chuck joined the Willow Bend Club and Red Jacket Ski Club, both of which are now memories. Jane volunteered with schools and in local churches she attended, and helped organize Jack Kemp's first humble fundraisers in a school cafeteria. Her support for the rights of women and previously marginalized groups meant the culture wars of the 1990s moved her in new political directions for the rest of her life. Jane was active in the Erie County and New York State Medical Auxiliary, serving as President of both organizations and organizing public health initiatives and educational sessions. She was a curious and thoughtful person who belonged to numerous book clubs throughout her life and, along with her husband, filled their house with books and family games, like Password after dinner and highly competitive Scrabble games and pinochle. Family vacations in Canada were filled with waterskiing, fishing, reading, game-playing, stargazing, hunting for the elusive Northern Lights, identifying birds and plants, and contemplating the changing skies of Georgian Bay, Algonquin Park, or the Haliburton Highlands. They took their children on ski trips to Grey Rocks in Quebec and out West, where Jane once quietly ditched a daughter to find herself a sundae. Reminiscent of the time she and her best friend Dorothy spent their piano lesson money on the movies when they were children. Jane and Chuck traveled throughout the US, having special fondness for visiting family and friends. She and Chuck played bridge with a core group of dear friends, and she with a number of women friends, for decades. She made friends throughout her life and was quick to smile and laugh, crack a joke or make a zinger we still repeat, especially about bridge skills. Jane and Chuck taught us to play bridge, too, and one of Gigi's last gifts was teaching her granddaughter and partner to play as well. She leaves to cherish her memory her son Walter Van Campen Schen, her daughters Andrea Marina Schen, Lisa Ann Schen (m. Dawn Harbatkin), Claire Suzanne Schen (m. Gregory Cherr), and granddaughter Maddy Schen Cherr (partner Han-Ruí Jahn). She was predeceased by her parents, brother Walter, and a young brother, Neal. The family will hold private remembrances. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Donald M. Demmerley Funeral Home, 21 Pierce Ave. Hamburg, NY. Please share online condolences at www.demmerleyfuneralhome.com.