Jan Lea West Schrock, 86, formerly of Portland, passed away peacefully on March 8, 2023, in Camden. She was born in Newville, Pa. to Lucille (Sherck) West (Rupel) and Dan West on Aug. 30, 1936.
Jan Schrock was a complex and brilliant person who lived a life of such variety it is challenging to summarize.
Jan and her four brothers grew up on a farm in northern Indiana. Since her father traveled widely in his work for the Church of the Brethren, the West kids learned to manage the farm with only occasional assistance from nearby relatives. Jan told colorful stories such as how she “learned to drive a tractor at 12 years old” and “could back two hay wagons in tandem up an incline into the barn.”
She graduated from Manchester College in 1958 with a B.S. in elementary education.
Jan married Gladden Schrock in 1959. They raised their two children in the tight-knit fishing community of South Bristol, where Jan became a pillar of the community, an unexpected role for someone not born there. Jan’s kitchen was a hub for socializing, cooking, and canning, with much of the produce from their spectacular garden or gleaned locally.
Jan taught special education at Bristol Consolidated School through most of the 1970s, then middle school at Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta in the early 1980s.
After her divorce, Jan embraced a completely different path, becoming a savvy urban-dweller, earning her master’s in education at American University in Washington, D.C. This led to her founding the Night School for Learning Disabled Adults in the mid-1980s. She then spent a year teaching English in Beijing, China. Upon returning to the U.S., she moved to Elgin, Ill. to become the Director of Brethren Volunteer Services, training and placing volunteers to work with inner-city communities. In the early 1990s she did similar work for the National Council of Churches in New York City, where she also earned her Master of Divinity at New York Theological Seminary.
Jan then turned her focus to Heifer International, the relief organization founded by her father. As a Heifer International senior advisor, she lived in Little Rock, Ark. and led study tours to South America and Asia, until she returned to Maine in 2003. For the last 20 years of her life, Jan remained dedicated to promoting Heifer’s work around the world, as well as at urban farms in the U.S. In 2008 she published “Give a Goat,” a true story about schoolchildren raising money for Heifer.
In addition to her formal work, Jan was an activist for peace and social justice. She was arrested three times for civil disobedience in peaceful protests: in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol rotunda in 1984 and twice in Chicago in the early 1990s.
After returning to Maine and settling in the Portland area, Jan provided loving support for her four grandchildren as they grew up, delighting in their distinct personalities and interests. While living in Westbrook, Falmouth, and then Yarmouth, she taught English to immigrants and stayed busy volunteering for Heifer International.
During her last year, she lived at Ashton Gardens in Portland, a retirement community which she loved.
In her last months, Jan faced many challenges to her health and mobility, resulting in her moving to a facility in Camden, where she charmed bedside staff with her warmth and humor. Despite the difficulties of this time, she treasured the closeness she developed with her daughter as they navigated complex situations together through daily contact, by phone if not in person. She died on International Women’s Day, surrounded by song and love, with her son holding her hand. The outpouring of love in her final weeks was a reflection of the love she gave to the world throughout her life.
Jan Schrock was a storyteller who skillfully drew out the stories of others. She was irreverent, laughed heartily, and expressed her enthusiasm with her powerful presence, and, in emails and letters, with many exclamation points. She had a beautiful singing voice and could hold the alto harmony in any quartet. She made friends with all she met, and particularly connected with people from other cultures. At the same time, she treasured her solitude and was fiercely independent.
Jan’s empathy, wisdom, and curiosity made her a teacher to all who knew her. She loved taking care of people and then learned to accept care from others in her final months.
Jan was preceded in death by her parents; and brothers, Joel, Phil and Larry, the twins. She is survived by her children, Kate and Nate; her grandchildren, Avery, Caleb, Lila, and Roosevelt; and her brother, Steve and wife, Rosie. She will be missed by adoring cousins, nieces, nephews, and their families and children, and many dear friends, all of whom grieve her passing.
A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 1 p.m. at the Foreside Community Church in Falmouth. To honor Jan and her life’s work, donations may be made to Heifer International. Condolences and memories may be shared at longfuneralhomecamden.com. Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service at 9 Mountain St. in Camden.
