Jean Anne Whitten Schmutz

Obituary Notice

Jean Anne Whitten Schmutz, age 80, of Little Rock, died Wednesday, February 25, 2004. She was born in West Tennessee to the late K. H. Whitten and Lillie McBride Currie Whitten. She was educated in public and private schools in Tennessee and Alabama, and was a member of Phi Mu sorority. She was a member of the board of the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools, which in 1999 was awarded the National Education Association's Civil Rights Award. She was the founder and chairman of KEEP, the Kindergarten Educational Enrichment Program. This pilot project, which preceded Head Start, was intended to provide funds for public kindergarten classes to help children of all income levels prepare for first grade. In 1965 she was appointed chairman of the State Council of Remedial Education, the purpose of which was to administer the funds of a federal assistance program that aided underprivileged school children. She served as a member in the Little Rock PTA, and worked with a group to strengthen Little Rock's federally aided school lunch program. She was a past president of the Prospect Terrace Garden Club, a member of the Arkansas Arts Center, a member of the Fine Arts Club, a charter member of the Theatre Guild of the Community Theatre, a member of the Old State House, and a member of Second Presbyterian Church.

She is the widow of Frederick H. Schmutz, and is survived by two daughters, Julie Hollon Duro of Astoria, New York, and Anne Elizabeth Schmutz and husband John Stephan of Coral Springs, Florida.

The memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Second Presbyterian Church officiated by Reverend Steve Hancock. Arrangements are under the direction of Ruebel Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to a charity of your choice.

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