Biography

Jane Ann Boelter Riggs was born in Rowley, Iowa, in 1947 to parents Eileen and Lloyd Boelter. Boelter was a student in the last class to graduate from Rowley Junior High School when it was closed and the town was incorporated into the Independence School District. Boelter attended Jefferson High School and graduated in 1966. Following her graduation, Boelter married James Stick, a high school classmate, and they both attended the University of Iowa. Jane Ann Stick studied Home Economics, graduating with her bachelor’s degree in 1970. Stick taught home economics in Alburnett, Iowa for two years before returning to the University of Iowa for graduate school. Boelter and Stick divorced in 1971. While in graduate school, she became more engaged with the new women’s studies department and used a feminist perspective in much of her schoolwork. She earned a master’s in home economics and an education specialty degree in counseling with an emphasis on women’s studies. Boelter married Ritch White in 1973 and did not take his last name. She filed paperwork with the help of the Women’s Resource Action Center to change her legal last name from Stick back to Boelter. Boelter continued her involvement in WRAC, working as a group instructor in 1975 and 1976. Jane Ann Boelter began her career in school counseling in Colorado in 1976. She was involved in her community, founding the Moffat County Women’s Council and joining the Colorado chapter of the National Organization for Women. In 1983, Boelter made a career change and began working in sales and real estate. She married Ronald Riggs. The two worked in real estate together, overseeing timeshare properties in Utah, Colorado, and Hawaii. Jane Ann Boelter Riggs retired in 2002 and began sailing internationally with her husband, Ron.

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