UW-Platteville lost one of its own last week when former professor Jerry Scheppers died following a 30-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 76.

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Jerry Scheppers was a UW-P professor for 20 years.

Scheppers was born April 11, 1933, in North Bend, Neb. After graduating high school, he served in the Coast Guard for four years. Scheppers married Elvera Deppe on July 16, 1960 and they moved to Platteville to raise a family that would grow to include seven children.

Scheppers graduated from Wayne State University in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in education. He received his masters degree in chemistry from Iowa State University in 1967.

UW-P brought Scheppers on board to teach chemistry in 1966 and he taught for 20 years between then and his retirement in 1993. During his time, Scheppers held a variety of positions on campus including serving as the chair of the chemistry department and Faculty Senate, and as a member of various committees and sub-committees.

“Jerry took his job very seriously. He not only wanted to succeed as a teacher, but he wanted to see his students succeed,” Elvera said. “He did what he could to help make the campus a successful place. Jerry had a great desire to learn and wanted to help other people to learn. He wanted students to succeed so badly, but if he thought a student would not be successful in chemistry he would tell them. He was a very honest person.”

Jesse Reinstein, a long-time associate in the chemistry department and co-worker of Scheppers said he was very compassionate and a genuinely nice person.

“Jerry was a very fine instructor, and he was always concerned with his students doing well,” Reinstein said. “Jerry was a good administrator and teacher. He was very dedicated to his teaching and concerned with his students’ well-being.”

Elvera said that Scheppers was very active on campus and did everything he could to support students and UW-P. Scheppers rarely missed sporting events, concerts or other activities on campus.

Scheppers not only took an interest in the campus, but he also took an interest in the community. Dee Bernhardt, campus minister of St. Augustine’s University Parish, said, Schepper and his wife were one of several couples who played a major role in the founding of the campus parish.

Elvera said that she and her husband wanted to support students, and thought that St. Augustine’s would give that support since the parish is oriented toward campus students. St. Augustine’s is located at the corner of Hickory and Pine Streets, across the street from UW-P.

Schepper’s died on Feb. 16, following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Bernhardt attended the funeral and visitation and said it was a very fitting tribute to Scheppers. St. Augustine’s had a steady stream of people during the entire visitation, and the funeral had at least 180 people in attendance, Bernhardt said.

“People reflected on how nice and kind of a person Jerry was and told stories about him,” Elvera said. “He will be missed.”