Profiles in Giving
Legacy Donors Lynn and Karen Schiffman better writers and instilling a love of literature in many who would have overlooked it for other pursuits. Lynn and Karen met at Utah State University and completed their educations before joining the military during the days of the Vietnam War. They were blessed with five children during the next several years as Lynn worked for Walgreens Drug Company.
by Travis Schiffman
As a young man on a farm in Salmon, Idaho, helping his father keep one truck running by salvaging the parts from another that the Salmon River had swept away, Lynn Schiffman learned at an early age the value of hard work and hands-on experience, and the importance of life-long learning. His father may not have had much in the way of a formal education, but he was always teaching. This love of learning inspired Lynn to pursue and complete a bachelor’s degree, finish officer’s training in the military, and complete a Master of Business Administration degree as a working adult many years later. After working for several years in the business marketplace, Lynn noticed the differences between what he had learned in college and his “real world” experiences. He had always loved teaching, so when an opportunity to teach at Snow College became available, he seized the opportunity to give back to students. For more than 30 years, he served as a member of the faculty and dean of students at Snow College. Karen Ashdown Schiffman grew up with the same love of learning under the tutelage of her father, a university professor at Texas Tech University, and her mother, whose family always highly regarded a formal education. “To say that education is and has been a priority in my life is an understatement. As the daughter of a Texas Tech University college professor (and the great-great-granddaughter of Erastus Snow), I was consistently told that I would go to college and that the best insurance policy a woman could have is her education. Although we were not a wealthy family, we always had enough because of my parents’ thrift, and they saved and invested to put their kids through college,” said Karen. She shared nearly two decades of her life with many fortunate students at Manti High School as an English teacher, helping them to be 28
The legacy of financial support for college originated with Karen’s grandfather. “Even before my parents prepared to put their children through college, my grandfather had set up investments with my dad, which they nurtured along with their posterity. By the time my orchard-farmer grandfather and my dad had children and grandchildren, they had accumulated enough funds to pay for college educations for grandpa’s grandchildren. Instead of quitting at that point, they kept saving and investing and helped pay for our children’s educations at Snow College, Utah State University, Brigham Young University, and the University of Utah. At the present time there is still enough money in my grandfather’s educational fund for a small stipend for our grandchildren. My father’s funds offer another small amount for them as well,” said Karen. When Lynn and Karen first arrived at Snow College, they realized what a wonderful place it is and tried to figure out ways to make it better: “We started our love affair with Snow College in January of 1982. It was new territory to us, but it did not take long for us to realize what a great place this is! We wanted to do our part in making it better. There is never enough money for scholarships, but nonetheless, small contributions were made. We made the $5 monthly payroll deductions, but never could see how that would ever amount to much. Then we were introduced to a program wherein we could purchase a life insurance policy and name Snow College as the beneficiary. We decided to insure Karen, because it was less expensive, and paid the monthly premiums. It was a modest premium, but after a short time the policy was paid, Snow College is the named beneficiary, and will receive $50,000 for scholarships upon Karen’s passing. It was a tremendously gratifying experience,” said Lynn. All of Lynn and Karen’s children are Snow College graduates, and their oldest grandchild begins her freshman year here in the fall. Their oldest son, Travis, is also a member of the faculty. A modest scholarship fund was established in the name of their late son, Michael Troy Schiffman. “Not only have we loved the learning environment in Ephraim and Snow College, but our children have grown and received their educations here also. We want as many as possible to enjoy the blessing of a Snow College education.” said Karen. From small contributions to life insurance policies, there truly are many ways to build a unique and individual legacy of giving back at Snow College. What will your legacy be? 20 14 | S N O W CO L L EG E M AG A ZI N E