In Loving Memory
Jan Schad

VISITATION
Saturday, October 8, 2016
9:00 - 10:30 A.M.
Holy Family Catholic Church
Emmetsburg, Iowa

SERVICE
Saturday, October 8, 2016
10:30 A.M.
Holy Family Catholic Church
Emmetsburg, Iowa

Janice Leslie Powell Schad, 73, was a citizen of the world who began her life as an Iowa farm girl. Born in Des Moines when her parents lived on a farm near Dawson, she attended a one-room schoolhouse near Dawson until 6th grade when she moved to Emmetsburg, Iowa. Her parents had fulfilled their dream of saving up to purchase a farm south of Emmetsburg and they moved to a house in town.

Jan attended high school at Emmetsburg High and graduated in the class of 1961. After high school, she attended University of Denver and met her future husband on a bus from freshman orientation camp. They dated through college, where Jan was a member of Sigma Kappa Sorority and a journalism major. The day after graduation, John and Jan were married in the mountains of Estes Park, Colorado.

A defining experience for Jan was her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bogota, Colombia. She and John used their journalism and TV production skills to produce educational television shows for the children of Colombia where broadcast signals could reach children who did not have access to teachers. Through their Peace Corps experience, they learned to appreciate the way people in different cultures lived, an experience that would impact not only them but her future children.

After Peace Corps, Johnny Schad was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Jan became a mother. After living for a year in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan, John and Johnny moved to Carlinville, Illinois, where Jeanne and Peggy arrived in 1971 and 1973 respectively. In 1976, Jan and John decided to fulfill a life dream of starting a radio station and moved their young family back to Jan's home town of Emmetsburg to put Palo Alto County's first and only radio station on the air. KEMB went on the air in January of 1977 and served the community for 13 years. During that time, they had discovered a new business venture, finding ways to use computers to automate functions of the radio station and Smarts Broadcast Systems was founded. Smarts has since served thousands of customers world wide and allowed small-town radio stations to operate efficiently and continue to serve their communities. She befriended business associates around the world, including their dear friends, Bjorn and Marianne Kjellander in Stockholm, Sweden, and introduced them to the community when she organized their Swedish dance troop to perform at the Clay County Fair.

One of Jan's proudest moments occurred in 1989 when she was invited to the US Capitol to give a speech in the rotunda about her experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Along with other returned volunteers, she helped commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Peace Corps in our nation's Capitol.

Jan was also proud of being a mother to her three children, their friends, her employees and even strangers she just met. She surprised her children often by breaking into fluid Spanish to help connect and communicate with someone in their native language. She had a rule about traveling to other countries: have the courtesy to learn 20 verbs and 40 nouns and you'll get by. And it worked.
Jan welcomed many into her beloved Victorian home in Emmetsburg, including neighborhood children, travelers and business associates. It was here in her home that she passed away on October 3, surrounded by her family. It is also here that her family will celebrate her life following her memorial service on Saturday, October 8, 10:30am at Holy Family Parish in Emmetsburg, Iowa. All are welcome.

A come and go gathering will be held at her home, 601 Palmer, following the services.

Arrangements by Martin-Mattice Funeral Home