Jennifer Kay Spenader

Jennifer Kay Spenader Ph.D.

Jennifer Spenader passed away on Nov. 11, 2023, in Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO. Her death comes at the end of a 14-month battle with breast cancer. She was 52 years old. Jennifer leaves behind her husband Emar Maier, two daughters, Kaylee "Lee" (16) and Kiki (14), and stepson Ward (25). She is survived by her mother Jacquie (Bolin) Spenader of Geneva, IL, and father, John Spenader and Beverly (Schammel) Spenader, of Chesterfield, MO. Jennifer leaves behind her sisters Allison Spenader of Maple Grove, MN (along with Steve and Ivan Anderson), and Elizabeth Carson (Angus) of Didcot, U.K. Jennifer also leaves behind her stepsiblings Bradley, Lindsey, and Megan Schammel of St. Louis, MO.

Jennifer was born on February 19, 1971, in Fairview Park, OH, to John Brian Spenader and Jacqueline Kay (Bolin) Spenader. She grew up in Medina, OH, and at age 16 became an exchange student, spending a year abroad with AFS in Kurashiki, Japan. This sojourn set her on a path of lifelong international experiences. She graduated from St. Charles High School in IL and went on to study Linguistics at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She completed her Ph.D. in 2002 at Stockholm University, Sweden.

Jennifer was full of fun and brimming with enthusiasm for any endeavor, but she was also one of those fortunate souls who truly enjoyed her work. She worked as an Assistant Professor of Computational Linguistics at Stockholm University before taking a permanent position in 2005 at the University of Groningen where she thrived as a professor in the Institute for Artificial Intelligence. She was beloved by her colleagues and her students. She was a prolific scholar, with a robust research agenda. Her research area was focused on Linguistics, specifically child language, semantics, psycholinguistics, and computational linguistics. She has published numerous scholarly articles, on topics ranging from pronoun acquisition and presupposition theory to machine learning and AI. She was well-known throughout the greater linguistics community for bringing together researchers from different fields and different parts of the world to pursue exciting joint research projects.

During a research stay in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in 2001, Jennifer met Emar, who would become her husband. Together they started their family in The Netherlands. Jennifer was an energetic and devoted mother to her two daughters and her stepson. Every year the family made time for special trips and international adventures - whether it be skiing in the Alps, kayaking among the Norwegian fjords, visiting relatives in Chicago and St Louis, or the many trips to the seaside closer to home. Jennifer made many friends during her sabbatical at Smith College and UMass Amherst in 2017, where she went with the whole family in tow.

Jennifer was a remarkable person in so many ways. She worked as a nanny in Vienna, Austria, after college. She was also a camp counselor at a sailing camp in Sweden. She taught English in Nagano, Japan before moving to Stockholm and Nijmegen for her doctoral studies. She was proficient in Japanese, Dutch, Swedish, German, and French. Swedish held a special place in Jennifer's heart, as it was her heritage language and a language she shared with her sisters. She had also studied Finnish and probably more languages 'just for fun'. She was a gifted artist, producing beautiful drawings and watercolors. As she lost the use of her right hand due to cancer, she began writing, drawing and painting with her left hand, and she was still the most talented artist in any room! She enjoyed knitting, and her family will treasure the hats and sweaters she created. Like her Dutch compatriots, she biked everywhere. Jennifer cherished sharing time and tea with her close friends, and appreciated their love and support. She will be missed by everyone who knew her, as her kindness, endless energy and positivity made all of our lives better!

Jennifer fought courageously against cancer. Despite recent advances in cancer treatments, none were strong enough against Jennifer's aggressive form of breast cancer. The family kindly asks that those wanting to make a memorial gift consider supporting a cancer research initiative of their choice.



A memorial service will be held Friday, November 17, 2023, at 3:30 p.m., at St. John's United Church of Christ, 15370 Olive Boulevard, Chesterfield, Missouri 63017. A memorial service will also be held at a later date in Groningen.


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