Janet Schultz Kahn

1947 - 2016

Kahn, Janet Schultz



Janet Schultz Kahn, much loved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter and friend, died as she lived - with courage and determination on January 15, 2016.

Born in Columbia, South Carolina on April 19, 1947, Janet grew up in Albuquerque attending Zia and Montezuma elementary schools and Jefferson Jr. High. She was a proud member of the Highland HS Class of 1965, maintaining close ties with a core group of classmates for well over 50 years.

Janet attended UNM where she was a member of Mortar Board and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Janet's Kappa friendships were some of her closest over the years. She graduated from UNM in 1969 with a BA in Sociology and returned years later to get a master's degree in education administration, which she completed, with distinction, in 1990.

Prior to working, Janet was an active volunteer with the Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae Association and with the Jr. League of Albuquerque. Through a pilot project with the Jr. League, she began working for the Albuquerque Public Schools helping to initiate the district's Community Education Program which made school facilities available before and after the school day for parents, students, community members and community groups to provide a variety of classes and services. In addition to classes for fun, participants were also able to complete a GED, attend parenting classes, get help with their taxes, and improve ESL skills.

At its height, the program was available in over 30 schools across the district meeting the needs of several thousand community members in the most convenient sites - their local schools.

As part of the Community Education program Janet and APS art coordinator Peter Fitzpatrick initiated "Art in the Open", an annual display of original student artwork on small Pony Panel sized billboards throughout the city. The program won a BRAVO Award from the Albuquerque Arts Alliance, was highlighted in trade magazines for the billboard industry and brought smiles to Albuquerque drivers each spring for 17 years.

As an off-shoot of the Community Education program, Janet was asked to help implement the district's Join-A-School program of school-business partnerships. Together with a small but talented, close-knit and hard-working staff, they built the program into a very successful model providing local businesses with a range of options for assisting public schools and providing them with access to the resources of the business community to meet a wide range of unmet needs.

While proud of her accomplishments with the Community Education and Join-A-School programs, it was with the Fine Arts program in APS that Janet found her greatest reward. Hired by Supt. Dr. Peter Horoschak in Oct., 1995, she was directed to re-introduce an elementary fine arts program to APS after 10 successive years of significant budget cuts.

With colleague and close friend Luis Delgado, Janet and Luis built an elementary fine arts program for APS starting with 22 certified art and music teachers in September, 1996 and ending with 94 art and music teachers at her retirement in 2012. That expansion of classroom instruction was accompanied by the creation of a district ARTS Center as well as a number of successful collaborations with a wide variety of community arts organizations that were able to make their resources available to both students and teachers.

Janet was often heard to say that her experience with the Fine Arts program was the hardest she had ever worked - and the most rewarding work she had ever done, both personally and professionally. She received a BRAVO Award from the Albuquerque Arts Alliance for her leadership and advocacy work on behalf of arts education and was also named Administrator of the Year by the NM Art Education Assoc.

Janet will be remembered as a loving wife, a proud and caring mother, a doting grandmother, and fiercely loyal friend who loved unconditionally and is dearly loved by many. Janet had a sharp wit and amazing dry sense of humor appreciated by all. Her wide circle of friends only got bigger as time went by. She was dedicated to advocating for arts education with her primary aspiration to make a difference in her world; something she accomplished many times in many ways. Janet was a gifted writer and calligrapher, guided by her extremely thoughtful and creative intellect. Whatever she did, she did well. She was passionate about her work within the Albuquerque Public Schools where she served as negotiator, mediator, mentor, and friend.

Janet is survived by her husband and love of her life for 46 years, Charlie; their daughter Jenni Scobey and husband John of Denver; their son Zach Kahn and wife Angela Schwab of Golden, CO; her parents Ruth and Sid Schultz of Albuquerque; her brother Andy Schultz and wife Debbie Good of Albuquerque; and mother-in-law Beatrix Kahn of Albuquerque. She is also survived by her beautiful and much loved grandchildren Carson and Jake Scobey of Denver and Flora Jane Kahn of Golden, CO. Additional survivors are brothers in-law Step Kahn and wife Yumi Kawaguchi of Boulder, CO and Randy Kahn and wife Terri as well as nephew Cory Kahn and niece Carrie Kahn all of Durango, CO and nieces Rachel and Sarah Gross of New York City. In addition, Janet leaves behind a host of friends and colleagues whose love and care and support and prayers were a source of profound comfort for Janet and her family.

The family would like to thank Dr. Monte Shaheen of the UNM Cancer Center for his care and compassion as well as Dr. Mitchell Binder.

A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at Congregation B'nai Israel, 4401 Indian School Rd, 87110.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to the UNM Cancer Center. Please make check out to: UNM Cancer Center, Memo: Skin Cancer Prevention & Research Fund, UNM Cancer Center Development Office, MSC07 4025, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001. Please visit our online guestbook for Janet at

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