FORCES OF NATURE: Jane Abby Mintz Schwab

Name: Jane Abby Mintz Schwab

Profession: Retired LAUSD teacher

Jane educated legions of Angelenos during her 35-year tenure as a teacher. As a person, Jane oozes grace and humility while simultaneously possessing a no-nonsense attitude of a skilled army sergeant. Her kind intelligence is visible from miles and she still gets stopped at Gelson’s (her favorite grocery store) by her former students who remember her fondly. Jane is a devout art (especially theatre) consumer and studied acting. She is a UCLA basketball enthusiast and is a season ticket holder since 1965. She and her best friend, Maryann cause mischief and delight others in doing so. 

I met Jane during a sad period of her life when her now-deceased husband was suffering from dementia and needed to be conserved. During our first meeting, Jane said something along the lines of: “You’re going to have me in your life for the rest of my life.” I responded, “With pleasure.” That was in 2018. Jane was the epitome of grace under fire during the last few years of her husband’s life and successfully, with Maryann's expert guidance, ran his labor of love, their boutique pharmacy in Beverly Hills called the Alan Schwab Pharmacy. Jane is 81 years old and enjoys life with her son Brandon and their golden doodle ball of mischief named Oliver.

Author: Benny Roshan, Chair of Greenberg Glusker's Trust and Probate Litigation Group

Photographer: Hemali Zaveri