Jan Schiff, wife of Sugar Land City Councilman Michael Schiff, was struck by a pickup truck Saturday afternoon and died later from her injuries.
| Jan Schiff |
Details of the accident were sketchy. On Sunday, city officials scheduled a press conference to provide more information. On Saturday, police and city communications officials provided little comment beyond a prepared statement that said Jan Schiff had been jogging near the intersection of Sweetwater Boulevard and Greystone Way at about 3:50 p.m. when the truck hit her. She was transported by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she died.
Sugar Land Communications Director Barbara Brescian said the accident was not a hit and run, but said she was unable to provide further details. Indications were that no arrest was made, and Brescian called it “a tragic accident” that is still under investigation.
Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace was with Michael Schiff at about 8:30 p.m., and said the councilman was seeing his rabbi and family members and is “obviously very, very shaken up at his loss, as is the entire community.”
Jan Schiff was Partners In Education and public schools volunteer coordinator for Fort Bend Independent School District, a past chair of the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County, a member of the Ford Bend Education Foundation and associated with numerous charitable organizations.
Michael Schiff has been a District 4 city councilman since 2002, and moved to Sugar Land with his wife in 1981. She is survived by two children.
“This is a tragic loss for our entire community,” Wallace said in a prepared statement released later Saturday night. “The number of individuals that Jan has touched is countless in her years of community service with numerous non-profit organizations and in her position at Fort Bend Independent School District. The entire community mourns her passing. Our prayers and support are with her family.”
