Jan Schiff spent her adult life working with public schools, most recently working as the Volunteer in Public Schools Coordinator for Fort Bend ISD. From the time she graduated from the University of Texas with a B.S.Ed and started teaching middle school in Austin, Jan has been volunteering in and working with public schools. Through her work, Jan felt passionately about education and changing the world, one person at a time, whether making a foreign exchange student feel welcomed or teaching an adult to read for the first time. A reading teacher in her early career, Jan understood the importance for both young people and adults to read. As a longtime volunteer and past president of the Literacy Council of Fort Bend, she worked hard to help create a safe and caring place in which no one would feel embarrassed or ridiculed for what they did not know, but instead nourished by what they were able to learn and achieve. It was Jan's and others' vision that resulted in the creation of the Fort Bend Education Foundation in 1993, an independent organization of volunteers working to enhance the quality of public education by providing funding for grants that enrich the classroom experience. Always an integral and vital force within the educational and volunteer community, Jan was honored as Fort Bend County Woman of the Year in 2002.

A wife, mother and volunteer for many years in Sugar Land, Texas. Jan was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, to Stern and Jane Feinberg, and leaves behind her husband, Michael S. Schiff, son, David, and daughter Laura. Jan devoted most of her adult life to the raising and care of her children. She began her volunteer career in 1979 working for the AFS Intercultural Progrrams by helping to orient and send students abroad. She actively pursued improving the education provided in Fort Bend ISD by participating in her children's PTO's throughout their school careers, as VIPS Coordinator and PTO President and board member. Jan was also active in volunteer capacities for the Fort Bend Chapters of the American Cancer Society and CASA, and served on numerous boards including the Fort Bend Literacy Council, Fort Bend A.W.A.R.E. (a branch of the Houston Alzheimer's Association), and various Campus Based Leadership Teams. She was particularly proud of her service for many years on the Education Foundation where she served as a member, Allocations Vice President, Vice President of Community Involvement, and President.

Jan's greatest joy was her family and the pride she took in the accomplishments of her husband and children. She led a rich life filled with the good fortune of having many loyal close friends and the love of her family. Her son, David, is a 2002 graduate of Vanderbilt and recently completed a five-year tour in the Navy. Her daughter, Laura, graduated in 2004 from Emory University. Her husband, Michael, owns his own business and is currently serving as Sugar Land City Councilman for District 4. Jan is also survived by mother Jane Feinberg, brothers Stern Feinberg and his wife Miriam and their children Jeff, Doug and Beth; Alan Feinberg and his wife Sharon, and their children Eric and Amy; and her husband Michael's brother Richard and wife Sherri; brother Robert and wife Rosie, and their children Teri and Brianna; sister Debbie and husband John and their daughters, Sarah and Rebecca; and sister Jacqueline, and her children, David and Jenna. She was preceded in death by her father Stern Feinberg.

From the Houston Chronicle, January 8, 2008