ELGIN – A time of gathering for Jennifer Marie Dress, 41, will be held on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. at Powers Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Babcock Center, Attn: Thoyd Warren, 2725 Banny Jones Ave, Springdale, SC 29170. Jennifer was born in Columbia, SC on Halloween 1978. She was diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis, which means she had non-cancerous tumors embedded deep within her brain. As she would age these tumors would grow & spread, causing her to lose abilities that were controlled by the different brain receptors. Jennifer was raised by her loving mother & her adoring grandparents until the age of 16. She was then placed with the Babcock Center to live in a group home with other ladies similar in intelligence. She enjoyed her time there because they stayed busy with activities, i.e. going to a day program, church, the zoo, movies, shopping, out to eat and even trips to the beach. On weekends Jennifer was able to come home & spend time with her family. She was happy! Everything changed September 2019...... Jennifer was hospitalized a couple of times & it was necessary for her to have a colostomy & ileostomy, where part of her small intestine had to be pulled through the abdominal wall, thus requiring her to wear an ostomy bag. At the same time, a g-tube was placed to allow feeding added nutrition. Jennifer was still able to eat three pureed meals daily & drink thickened liquids by mouth. However, she now required full-time nursing care & was unable to return to her residential home with the Babcock Center. November 2019 Jennifer began living in a long-term care facility, PruittHealth-Blythewood, SC. She was doing as well as could be expected with the surgeries on her tiny 90-pound body. March 2020 her world fell apart. Nursing home visitation was stopped so her mother was no longer allowed to be by her side daily. Window visits & telephone calls were difficult because of Jennifer’s inability to talk or do anything for herself, thus increasing Jennifer’s depression & physical decline. Throughout her life, Jennifer made many friends & was loved by so many people. Her smile was her greatest asset! It affected all who experienced it, & if you ever met her, you experienced it. She flashed it quickly & easily! Jennifer has risen from her broken earth body & gone on to be with Jesus Christ, her Lord & Savior. Jennifer can now do many things she never did on earth – walk, run, dance! Her family & friends rejoice! Immediate family who will mourn Jennifer’s loss are her Mama & Daddy, Patti Dress & Ricky Allen Crosby, & her brother Keith (Lisa) Crosby; her Aunt Sissy Kay Dress & cousin Joshua (Jenny) Dress; her Aunt Rhonda & Uncle Phillip Leonhardt & cousin Steven Leonhardt. Special family that will miss her forever are her Aunt Tanner & Uncle Peter Saxon; sister, Lisa (Tony) Arrowood & nephew, Jonathan Arrowood; sister of her heart, Tierica Jones; her devoted nurse, Deasha Smalls; her caring CNA, Crystal Kyzer; her Babcock Center family & her Pruitt-Health family. For the first time ever, Jennifer ran into the heavenly arms of her Pop Pop & Grammie, Harold Anthony & Dorothy Marie Dress; Granny Willie Mae Adams; Granny Elisabeth Crosby; Grammie Lois Alexakis; & her Uncle Bear, Jim Dress. In addition, her many other family & friends were there watching her receive her heavenly wings while she lit up the heavens with her beautiful smile!