Jessica Grace Shivers

Jessica Grace Shivers, 43, passed away September 24th at Inova Fairfax Medical Center in Falls Church, Virginia after a two-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Jessica was born April 20th, 1982, in Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois and later moved with her family to Hendersonville, Tennessee at the age of ten. In Washington, DC. she attended Gallaudet University, where she became a member of the Delta Zeta sorority and graduated with a BA in Early Childhood Education and Teaching.

After college, Jessica lived a life of service. For over ten years, she taught pre-K to second grade in the local Fairfax County, Arlington and D.C. public and private school systems. She later worked for an organization whose mission was to help people with disabilities find meaningful work while also pursuing a Masters degree in Counseling.

Jessica loved going to the beach, going on road trips, singing Taylor Swift songs, attending concerts, going out to eat and simply sitting outside. Despite growing up hearing impaired, Jessica was a multi-instrumentalist, having learned to play the piano, the violin, the flute, and the clarinet. She had recently begun teaching herself to play the guitar. She was a passionate mother and loved cooking and baking, especially, with her daughter, Lilly.

Among her siblings, Jessica is famously known for her dry wit, a gift she inherited from her late grandmother, Vera Taylor. Jessica is survived by her husband, Anthony Shivers, her daughter Lilliana, her twin brother, Josh, her three old brothers, Mel, Marc and Donald, her older sister, Erikka, her father, John and her six nieces and nephews and many cousins.

Funeral services will be held Friday, October 3rd at St. Mary’s of Sorrow’s Church, 10500 Zion Dr Church, Fairfax, VA 22032. Viewing is held at 11:00 am and Mass at 11:30 am. A burial will follow Mass at St. Mary of Sorrow’s Cemetery, 5612 Ox Road, Fairfax Station Va.