Jennifer "Jen" Van Hoveln

Jennifer D. Van Hoveln “Jen” Born 8-18-1980 to Dale Boyer, who proceeded her in death in 2006. Jen married the love of her life, Jim Van Hoveln in Kankakee in 2009, he survives. Jen is survived by adoptive parents, Becky & Marty Roth and Petey & Char Sorrentino, all of Grant Park. Jen is also survived by her godchildren, Harley & Michael Leaver of St. George. Loved ones include: Barb & Brian Richy, Carl & Margaret Lamb, all of Kankakee, Tammy & Dave Ditterline formerly of Kankakee; two sisters, Kristi Griggs of Arizona and Kayla Ditterline of Waterloo, Iowa. Several close friends survive. Jen was also preceded in death in 2008 by her brother, Brian Boyer. Jen was brutally honest with a dry comedian style delivery. Jen’s brain tumor was named “fe-fe” and would get blamed for all of Jen’s misbehavior. In addition to Jim being the love of her life, she loved her girls: Zoey, Maggie, Keller, and Piper. Over the last 18 years of illness, Jen took to building her “ma’am cave” (a retro video game room), she volunteered with various rescues, most recently she donated her time and money transporting injured wildlife to Flint Creek Rehab in Barrington, Illinois on behalf of 3D Wildlife Rescue & Rehab in Kankakee. Jen loved to fish & loved fishing with her fishing buddy, Petey Sorrentino. They always found oodles to laugh about and whale tales to tell. Jen was very proud of her Cherokee Native American culture and would always try to translate Cherokee language to her friends, often completely butchering the meaning of it. Other hobbies besides fishing, spending time with her dogs, and retro video gaming, included crafts with her “lunch buddy” Patty Haskins, as well as spending every moment possible with her godchildren and her recent love of “grown up” Legos. Jen had an uncanny ability to tell a good story, some of her best one liners include: “If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, then baffle them with your bullshit”. “If you can’t handle me at my worst then you don’t deserve me at my best”. “Walk softly, because the toes to step on today are connected to the foot that kicks you in the ass tomorrow.” Jen’s favorite one liner was her tattoo written in Cherokee syllabary and read as “I was born with my heart on my sleeve, a fire in my soul, and a mouth I can’t control.” - Cherokee pride, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Jen spoke multiple languages -Englishy -Profanityo -Sarcasm -Real Shit -Dumb Looks - and was learning to speak Cherokee. Jen was used to disappointment, so cheering for the Chicago Bears only felt right. In Jen’s own words she would say “it’s time to get on with living, or time to get on dying”. Memorials can be made to Jim Van Hoveln. A memorial visitation will be held 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 3, 2022 at Clancy-Gernon-Hertz Funeral Home in Kankakee.

Jennifer "Jen" Van Hoveln

August 18, 1980 - November 15, 2022