Jan was born in Port Angeles in 1941 to Fred and Katie Schmuck. Fred was born in Sequim, and Katie in Iowa.
Jan graduated from Sequim High School and attended University of Puget Sound with husband Gary. She went one year and became a dental assistant and helped Gary financially to finish school. He graduated with BS in Chemistry. In 1970 an opportunity came up to farm when Janice’s father wanted to retire.
Janice is a third generation farmer on Maple View Farm at Washington Harbor in Sequim, following her father Fred, and her grandfather Ernest Schmuck who emigrated from Germany at the age of 20 and later started Maple View Farm in 1933. Troy and Ben, Jan’s sons, are fourth generation owners, and part-owner, grandson Jake is fifth generation.
Jan and Gary married in the Methodist Church (now Olympic Theatre Arts) 63 years ago and are still active in the church. She has enjoyed farm life and raising four children — Troy, Ben, Wendy and Anthony.
Jan is proud of her nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
She spends her time doing the farm bookkeeping with the help of Wendy who also is a nurse at Olympic Medical Center. Jan supports helping women with their education through her membership of 58 years in her P.E.O. Chapter.
She loves it when Troy calls her and says “I need a tractor driver to bale hay,” or the grandkids pop in, and going on vacations. Jan says working and playing with her family is the best.
She says the Irrigation Festival has always been important to her — including hearing stories of her and Gary’s parents involvement playing in the festival’s baseball competitions, picnics, airplane rides, and going to the Big Parade.
She remembers performing the May Pole Dance, and earning 25 cents for sweeping out her dad’s school bus for the carnival ride on the Octopus. It was a big deal to be in two parades in Sequim and Port Townsend as part of the 1959 Festival Royalty with Kaye (Thompson) and Hazel (Messenger) Lowe.
Jan says, “it is special to think that Katie, Fred, and Uncle Ernie Schmuck are looking down and would be pleased to see me join them as Pioneers. I am grateful for the honor.”