Death Of Jan F. Schoonover

[ClayB]

I received a phone call from Alice Schoonover, wife of Jan Schoonover this afternoon. Alice informed me that Jan passed away Friday afternoon of a probable heart attack. He was 78 years old. I had talked to Jan a couple times in the last couple weeks. We were planning on working on a new leather carving lesson last week, but postponed it because of predictions of bad weather. When I last talked to Jan, he was in good spirits and said he had been feeling pretty good. He had been working on some leather carvings and was looking forward to starting on another lesson.

I first met Jan in 2003 the first time I attended the Rocky Mountain Leather Trade show in Sheridan, Wy. The following year I took my first extreme embossing class with Jan in Mandan, ND. Over the next several years I took classes with Jan every opportunity I had and we became good friends. A couple years ago, Jan invited me to spend a couple weeks with him in Billings. Jan told me that nobody else knew how he had created his award winning grizzly bear picture and he wanted to share the techniques with someone while he still could. I felt honored that Jan chose me to share this with and it's an experience I will never forget. While I was there for those two weeks, Jan shared a lot of stories about his life with me. He lived a very interesting life, working at a variety of different jobs. Over the years he had gone from testing scuba diving equipment to building and racing boats. He held 7 world speed records in his early years. He had worked in a plant where guided missiles were built, built neon signs, and eventually ended up in Wyoming where he owned a guest ranch and guided hunters. After that, he worked for the National Motor Club as a sales manager. He and his wife Alice traveled around the country and finally ended up in Texas where he went to work as a manager trainee for Tandy Leather. This was where he got his first introduction into leather carving in 1983. After seeing an embossed carving of a fish done by Robb Barr, Jan knew that was the kind of leather work he wanted to do. His experiences as a hunting guide helped when it came to creating lifelike wildlife carvings in leather. Jan loved to carve leather and enjoyed teaching others. Jan and I have been working for the past couple years on a series of lessons on extreme embossed leather carving. We completed 8 lessons up to this time and I have one more to finish up. It looks like that will be the end of the series, short of what Jan had hoped to provide, but we did get a variety of subjects covered.

Jan was a fine artist and a good friend and I'll miss him! My condolences to his wife Alice and his family.

[TwinOaks]

Thank you for taking the time to let us know a little about him, Clay. His inspiration was a gift to us all, and will be missed. We've lost another one of the greats.

Please extend our condolences from those of us he's helped even though we've never met him.

[Leatherimages]

Clay, I'm sure that was a shock to you and others close to Jan.

My sincere condolences to you and others who knew him.

Let his example of excellence be a guide.

Peace

[Denise]

Clay, my condolences to you and his family. I know he was a good friend and mentor to you, and he will be missed.

[bruce johnson]

Clay,

I am sure sorry to hear that and my condolences too. I know you were very close. You have honored him well with your friendship and your work, as well as passing on what he has shared with with you.

Bruce and Rundi

[gtwister09]

Clay,

Denise and Bruce have said it so well. My condolences to you and his family.

Regards,

Ben

[rcsaddles]

Not sure how many times you will hear this but my condolences to you and his family. I met Jan in Sheridan about 3 years ago. What a neat guy. Was willing to talk to people and share his testimony. I know the man was a Christian which is what is most important to me but also he was one of those kind of people you could meet on the street and just talk with. There are fewer and fewer of that type of person around today.

Clay, I pray for grace and peace for you and his family. Just rest assured that he is in a better place. In reading your post here, there is no doubt in my mind, you were as special to him as he was to you.

[Spinner]

This is very sad to hear Clay, sorry to all affected for the loss. Never met Jan, but based on your stories and the tutorials I sure would have liked to. On the positive side, he made his mark on the world and left a legacy of information for leatherworkers around the world to learn from and enjoy. Not many people put forth that kind of effort anymore and you had the honor of documenting it first hand. R.I.P. Jan.

[Johanna]

I am sad to hear of Jan's passing, and my sincere condolences to his family and friends. I had the privilege of meeting him a few times over the years, and he was always kind and gracious. He will be missed.

Johanna