Jerilyn Mary Louis Tierney passed away in Smithfield, Va., on October 30, 2024. Jeri was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 2, 1942, to Joseph H. Louis and Mary Grace (Swis) Louis.

The youngest of two children, she graduated from Ursuline Academy in 1960 and Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia in 1964, majoring in Mathematics. She met her soulmate, Joe Tierney, at a party during the summer of her senior year and married him on June 27, 1964. They quickly moved to Truax Field near Madison, Wisconsin, for Joe’s initial training in the US Air Force. While there, she had their first child.

She subsequently moved to Florida to stay with her parents when Joe was assigned duties in Alaska and Vietnam. Soon after his departure, she gave birth to their second child in December of 1966. While the family was living in Miami, Jeri’s third child was born and passed away due to complications from spina bifida. It was also in Miami where Jeri began her lifelong support and fundraising for Catholic schools and education, running a carnival that raised over $25,000 in 1972.

Later that year, the family moved to Augusta, Georgia, where her fourth child was born. Continuing her support for Catholic education, Jeri served on the school board and organized a card party that raised record funds for the school. In 1975, the family moved to Clermont-Ferrand, France. Jeri took on the role of math teacher for the American high school, teaching Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Pre-Calculus.

After returning to the United States, the family settled in South Carolina, where Jeri was named Chairman of the Board of Our Lady of the Rosary School. In her free time, she enjoyed golfing with friends. After seven years the family was moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where she learned to eat PEI mussels and enjoy traveling the coast of Canada.

From there they moved back to South Carolina briefly and then settled in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There Jeri continued her support of Catholic education by volunteering for Fr. Gabriel Richard High School and becoming a board member. She even helped clean the Michigan stadium as a fundraiser for the high school.

Life then took them to Long Grove, Illinois, where they eventually entered retirement. She and Joe enjoyed long “Tierney Lunches” at the Long Grove Tavern when they weren’t traveling the country to visit friends, relatives, and their grandchildren. In her spare time, Jeri was an active member of various golf and bridge clubs as well as the Newcomers Club. In 2022, she and Joe moved to Smithfield, Virginia, to be near family. After 59 wonderful years together, Joe passed away in 2023.

Jeri is survived by her sons, Patrick and Sean; daughter, Karen; son-in-law, Jason Domzal; daughters-in-law, Karen McLennan Tierney and Sarah Myers Tierney; and nine grandchildren.

A visitation will be held on Monday, November 11, 2024, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. at R. T. Foard Funeral Home, located at 318 George Street, Chesapeake City, Maryland. Following the visitation, a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. at Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Chesapeake City. Interment will take place afterward at Saint Rose of Lima Cemetery.