Jennifer Pope
Jennifer Pope Pender, 44, of Sarnia, Ontario, passed away peacefully at home on May 5, 2025, with loving family by her side. Her fight with Cancer was a two-and-a-half-year endurance battle. We should all be so lucky as to have a small portion of Jennifer’s strength and determination.
Without her, the world feels a lot less kind. But that’s to be expected when you’ve had the honor of being in the orbit of a woman who constantly searched out ways to make life softer, easier, and brighter at every turn. Jennifer was a caregiver at heart who held fiercely to her people. She loved being mom to her daughter Shelby. Her husband Ryan was her rock. Her work friends became a second family.
Jennifer and her two brothers were born and raised in Burlington, Ontario. Her parents Keith Pope and Barbara Sinclair couldn’t be prouder of the compassionate, successful woman Jennifer became and the life she lived on her own terms.
Jennifer returned to school as a mature student and a single mother. She earned her Registered Practical Nurse license in an accelerated 18 months. Previous to receiving her diploma, Jennifer worked at Bethany Residence in Burlington. After graduating, she joined the Victorian Order of Nurses where she served the community of Hamilton. She always had a smile on her face at work. She lit up when she spoke of the patients she had the joy of helping.
Jennifer was never shy about giving her opinion. You always knew where you stood with her, good or bad. She also wasn’t shy about her Griswold approach to the holidays – there was no such thing as ‘too much’ holiday. Christmas was sugar-filled, twinkled, and pine-scented. Her Christmas trees were works of art rivalled only by her Halloween displays.
She wanted everyone to feel loved, especially at Christmas. In 2020, she and Ryan took over a local community effort called Stockings for Seniors. Together, they collected stockings and donations to stuff them with. Then, they dropped them off to seniors in long-term care facilities, so they had something to open on Christmas morning. In 2020 they handed out 78 stockings. In 2023, that number hit 370 stockings.
Jennifer believed honesty was the best policy even if honesty sometimes stung. That Nanaimo bar and butter tart recipes should be shared. That Disney magic should be experienced by everyone. That unplugged days at the family trailer were worth their weight in gold. That you’re never too young (or too old) to learn to water ski. That rainy days are made for movies and spaghetti with your favorite daughter. That if someone needs help, you show up in Toronto during COVID with a truck and get it done. That the best dogs are rescues. And that you can never have too many murder mystery or romance novels.
Jennifer met the love of her life online, but only after a friend created a dating profile for her. While Jennifer claims Ryan ghosted her for two weeks after their first Tim Hortons date, Ryan remembers it differently. He knew he’d met the one. After a second date, they were inseparable. They married in their happy place, the Mayan Riviera, in 2019, surrounded by friends, family, a mariachi band, trumpeting peacocks, blue water, and warm breezes.
Their partnership extended to their family business where they had the enviable ability to sometimes fight like cats and dogs, but only until they got in the truck to go home. Work was always left at work.
Ryan was Jennifer’s rock, her biggest protector, and her greatest fan. But in 2017, when Ryan had a heart attack followed by triple-bypass, the roles reversed. Ryan knows that Jennifer’s medical expertise, care, and drive pushed him to recover as completely and as quickly as he did. Without her, he doesn’t know if he would have made it.
Jennifer is survived by her husband Ryan Pender, father Keith Pope, father-in-law Frank Pender, mother Barbara Sinclair, brother Andrew Pope, and daughter Shelby Pope. Her brother Cody Sinclair and mother-in-law Marlo Pender predeceased her.
Per Jennifer’s request, there will be no service. A Celebration of Life will be announced in future once details are confirmed.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Jennifer’s name to the Palliative Care Unit at the Bluewater Health Foundation. As Jennifer’s disease progressed, she spent six weeks on the palliative floor. The experience provided by the staff went above and beyond any expectations. They are truly angels on earth. Please visit www.bwhf.ca and click “Donate” in the upper right corner. On the next page, under “Designation,” please scroll to select “Palliative Care Unit,” and also mark this a Tribute Gift in Jennifer Pope’s name.
Every winter as the first flakes appeared, Jennifer would say “I smell snow.” Even if you don’t get the Gilmore Girls reference, you can feel the magic of that moment. On a crisp, clear night when winter arrives, turn your face to the sky, breathe deep, and remember her with a smile.