Jeanne McSherry Blum Dies at 87

Jeanne McSherry Blum of Northport died Friday at age 87.

Blum was born in Washington, D.C. and lived with her husband and children in Lloyd Neck for over 35 years before moving to Northport, according to her obituary on Burton Funeral Home's website.

Blum held a Master's in Graduate Education and Counseling from Long Island University - C.W. Post, and a Master's in Biology from George Washington University. She taught as a Professor until recently at C.W. Post and was previously a teacher in the Half Hollow Hills School District.

Blum helped design a curriculum for the New York State Certification of Counseling, according to her obituary. She traveled to psychiatric hospitals, prisons, and institutions around New York, such as West Point, to implement the new program, which was then used as a model for certification in other states.

Those who knew Blum remember her as a woman of substance, style, and class.

"She was a blessing to us all and a lesson to the world on how to do things right: How to appreciate learning, how to remember others, how to be graciously courageous, how to be a loving wife, a good mother and a true friend," reads her obituary. "She will be greatly missed."

Blum was preceded in death by her first husband of 37 years, Bernard Patrick McSherry, her second husband, Lt. Col. Donald Rehm, whom she married in 1996 and who died in 2000, and her beloved son Bernard "Brian" P. McSherry, Jr.

She is survived by her husband Howard E. Blum of Viero Beach, Fla., whom she married in 2003, her daughter Lynn Marie McBrier and her husband Dale of Fairview, daughter-in-law Terri McSherry Lange, and her grandchildren, Brandon and his wife Corinne, Matthew and Eleanor McBrier.

A wake will be held for Blum at the Burton Westlake Funeral Home in Erie, Pa. on Monday from 4 until 7 p.m., at which time a prayer service will be held.

Additional calling and funeral mass will be held by the M.A. Connell Funeral Home, in Huntington Station. Burial will be in St. Patrick Cemetery, Lloyd Harbor. Memorials may be made to Mount St. Benedict Sisterhood, 6101 East Lake Road, Erie, PA 16511.