Jill Hennessy Shea's Obituary
Jill Hennessy Shea, age 52 of Gainesville FL died on October 26, 2025, after a brief but courageous battle with cancer. She was born to Thomas and Debra (Hoch) Hennessy on March 3, 1973, in Woodbury NJ. Her father’s occupation as a financial manager at General Electric led her family to live in many different areas of the country during her childhood, including Voorhees NJ, Burlington IA, Ponce Puerto Rico, Columbia TN, and Vestavia Hills AL. Jill attended Columbia Central High School and graduated from Vestavia Hills High School in 1990, where she was a member of high school math teams that won the Mu Alpha Theta national championship. She graduated from Clemson University in 1994, earning a BS in Financial Management with a Concentration in Accounting. While at Clemson, she was a member of the Water Ski Club and a sister of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, where she was the Vice President of Finance in 1993–94. She was active in Clemson University Student Government and was elected Senator of the Year in 1993.
Upon graduation from Clemson, Jill joined the accounting firm Elliott Davis in Greenville SC as an auditor. She worked at Elliott Davis until 2000, rising to the rank of Audit Manager. Jill was proud to pass the exams to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) while working there.
She met her future husband, John Mark Shea, in Greenville in 1996, and they were married at Clemson First Baptist Church in 2001. They raised three children: Tucker, Charlotte, and Amelia. Jill was a loving and dedicated mother, and she stepped away from accounting for over a decade to focus her time on the care and growth of her children. She brought her passion, organization, and energy to this. Her children’s education and intellectual development were important to her, and she volunteered in their schools as much as possible. She was involved in several PTAs, sometimes at multiple schools at the same time. She served as PTA President, Treasurer, and Secretary in various years, and was chosen as the Chiles Elementary School Volunteer of the Year in 2019. She founded and led a Girl Scout Troop for Charlotte and Amelia. As Tucker and Charlotte approached college age, she loved taking them on trips around the country to help them find the right colleges for them, and she worked tirelessly to help them prepare their college application packages. She was very proud that both Tucker and Charlotte found schools that are perfect fits for them, with Tucker at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Charlotte at Rice University in Houston. Jill loved that Amelia chose to enroll in the Academy of Finance magnet program at Buchholz High School.
After moving to Gainesville FL, Jill joined James Moore & Co. as an Audit Senior in 2001 and rose to the rank of Audit Manager later that year. She worked at James Moore until 2003, when she became the Controller for Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, which at that time was the largest privately held mortgage company in the US. While raising a young family, she worked part-time as an accountant for the Gainesville Alpha Chi Omega Housing Corporation and James Moore & Co. during tax seasons from 2019 to 2022. In 2023–25, she worked as an accountant for ADG Asset Management and Fire Up the Jet. In 2024, she resumed the work she truly loved as a Senior Auditor at Reddish & White Certified Public Accountants.
Jill used her energy and outgoing personality to make friends and connect people throughout her community. Jill met many friends through her service activities, who described her as “always looking to serve others and improve the world: one hug, one quip, one friend at a time.” She played on and captained multiple tennis teams, where she was known for not only being an excellent tennis player, but also being fun and having a great sense of humor. She found joy in being a member of three different book clubs that brought together women from different parts of her life. Her friends recall “all the ways that Jill went out of the way to make the details count and to make sure every single person in her path knows how much she cares.” Jill was known to “never turn down an adventure or fun trip” and took epic trips with friends to Montana, Tennessee, Maine, Wisconsin, and to Omaha NE to see the University of Florida win their only College World Series Championship. Her spirit of adventure led Jill and her husband to travel to many countries across five continents.
Jill deeply loved her parents and siblings and traveled to be with them often, from her parents’ hometown of Clemson SC to unforgettable Hawaii vacations. Jill brought fun and joy to every family get-together, from holiday gatherings to boat days on the lakes surrounding Clemson. She also loved Clemson University and the many friends that she and John had made during their studies there. Jill enjoyed spending time with friends and family at many Clemson football games, including their 2016 and 2018 National Championships.
Jill is survived by her husband John Shea and their children Tucker, Charlotte, and Amelia. In addition, she is survived by her parents Tom and Debbie Hennessy of Clemson SC, her sister Kathy Cameron of Woodbridge VA, and her brothers Brian Hennessy of Clemson SC and Eric Hennessy (Tiffany) of Lewisville NC. She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
All are welcome to her Celebration of Life, which will be held in the worship center at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville FL on December 20, 2025, at 1:00 PM. A brief reception will follow. Attendees are encouraged to wear bright colors in honor of Jill’s vibrant personality and style.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Clemson University Foundation. Please direct your gift to the Jill Hennessy Shea ’94 Memorial Scholarship. Gifts may be made online at iamatiger.clemson.edu/giving, by phone at (864) 656-5896, or by mail: Clemson University Annual Giving Office, PO Box 1889, Clemson, SC 29633.
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