Margaret Glasmacher

Ande Glasmacher (Margaret Anderson Kennedy Glasmacher, for those who require a full legal description), born on October 27, 1970, in Laurens, SC, had her last thought of some inappropriate joke or prank on or before August 16, 2015, before succumbing to metastatic uveal melanoma. Whatever was happening in there during her altered state in the last day before she died, we will never know, but we hope it was amusing. She battled her illness with giggles, tears, friends, the exceptional team at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, and a joy and appreciation for every day she got after diagnosis.

Her biggest regret is that she must leave behind, far too soon, the most wonderful children on Earth -- Astrid of the beautiful smile, Ursula of fantastic nerdiness, and Jaana of excessively clever word play. She hopes to have bestowed upon them as much knowledge, insight, and wildly subversive senses of humor as possible to guide them through the rest of their lives. She sadly says goodbye to Jan Sanecki, girlfriend, who stuck by her during her illness and the difficulties of a long distance relationship, and enjoyed many a "cancercation" with her for treatment in Philadelphia. She also bids farewell to family: Thomas (ex-husband and friend), Mac (Shelley) Kennedy, brother and children Haley, Hannah, and Cam, Don and Peggy Kennedy, parents, and ex-inlaws Franz-Josef, Elisabeth, Anja, Juergen, Matthias, Rosi, Paul, and Clara.

She dreamed of being a physicist from childhood, and enjoyed beyond measure her time in undergraduate school at Florida State University, where she published several peer-reviewed scientific journal articles before achieving her B.S., under the wise and sensible tutelage of Paul Cottle and Kirby Kemper. She also had quite a romp as a Tallahassee "Baredevil" -- a group of naturists who enjoyed swimming without the hinderance of textiles in various sinkholes around the area and their own private lake. She fondly remembers camping out there and waking to see an alligator cruising where she and her friends would be swimming later that day. It was peaceful and naturally beautiful in a way few places can be and provided some peace in the midst of the stresses of school.

Moving to Michigan to continue her studies, she worked on detecting and understanding very high energy cosmic rays. Continuing her love of nature, she chose an experiment with Jim Matthews because it appeared to be in such a lovely location. She found great delight and wonderful solitude in working on the experiment in the Utah desert, and again that peace. She married Thomas in 1995, received her Ph.D. in 1996, and went on to leave the field she loved in preparation to be the parent less bound by crazy competitive physics hours. She spent some time as a database administrator, which she also found interesting enough. Astrid was born in 1999, and shortly after it was discovered that she had Aicardi syndrome, so it wasn't standard issue parenting by any stretch. She left full-time work when Ursula was born in 2002 and was grateful to have the extra time when Jaana followed along in 2005. Her first thought when diagnosed with cancer can't be printed, but her second thought was one of ultimate gratefulness for all the time she'd had with her children thus far -- time she had not spent working and stressing about a career.

One of her other big loves was the violin music made by her children, and the fiddle music made by her with her friends, especially the "Pretty Shaky String Band" (basically an open session) and her own contra-dance band "Askin' for Trouble". She made too many wonderful friends to name, and thanks all of them for being so kind and generous. With their spunky tunes and crazy senses of humor, they were the best support group a girl with cancer could want, even when they had no idea that's what they were. She used those tunes to calm herself during many a long night of anxiety about her illness. Plus they were just plain fun. Learning to play the fiddle was one of the best decisions she made in her middle age, and she's grateful for the encouragement of Sarah Tyriver, her violin teacher and friend, to play, and play better. There are far too many other teachers to list, as someone will surely get left out due to a fuzzy brain, and not due to lack of importance.

Her life may have been short, but she enjoyed it more than the average Josephine, or at least likes to think she did. If she didn't, it's too late to tell her now, so it's okay.

Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 5:00 P.M. with Rev. Ric Beattie officiating at Smith Family Funeral Homes, St. Johns, MI. Visitation will be held on August 19, 2015 from 2:00 P.M. until the time of the service at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the life-extending work of Dr. Sato at advancement.jefferson.edu/sato. She'd love knowing that your grief can translate into good in the world.

Read Margaret "Ande" Glasmacher's Obituary and Guestbook on smithfamilyfuneralhomes.com.