Rising set to retire from IFI’s Education Department
After teaching countless courses for the International Fabricare Institute’s Education Department, Jane Rising is ready to hang her teaching cap on the
spotting board for good.
Rising, IFI’s education manager, will be retiring on June 1. She has spent over 21 1/2 years
altogether with IFI.
It might seem strange for Rising to “settle down” because she has logged in her share of frequent traveler miles throughout her
life.
Though her job includes many in-house duties such as planning the schedule for
IFI
’s classes, writing bulletins and preparing other educational materials, she also
spent a lot of time on the road for the association
’s outreach seminars and in-plant training.
The travel is nothing new to Rising, however. She moved around a lot growing up,
too. Her father worked as a doctor for the military.
He was stationed at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, AZ, when she was born,
but, as fate would have it, she later spent time growing up just down the
street from IFI CEO Bill Fisher.
“We lived across the street from each other at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in
Aurora, CO,
” she recalled. “We played together and have many of the same memories of summer programs and the
school and that type of thing.
”
Of course, it would be a long time before the two would cross paths again.
Rising graduated from Radford High School (famous for alumnus Bette Midler) in
Honolulu, Hawaii, while her father was stationed at Tripler Army Medical
Center.
With an avid interest in textiles, she went on to attend the University of
Hawaii where she earned a degree in home economics. That was not her major,
however. Back then, it wasn
’t so fashionable to study fashion.
“At the time I was at the school they did not have a track for fashion design, so
there were ten of us and they literally created a track for us,
” she said. “We basically majored in fashion design but we had to take fashion merchandising
courses, as well.
”
After graduation, she taught apparel design and construction for four years as a
tenured faculty member at Maui Community College.
Rising has taught a lot of different fashion courses over the years as she and
her husband have moved more than their fair share
— everywhere from San Antonio to Miami, where she was an instructor for textiles
and flat pattern drafting courses.
Then, over two decades ago, she and her husband relocated fairly close to IFI’s headquarters.
“When we moved here, I was looking for something that would fit into my
background,
” she said.
She found what she was looking for, and a whole lot more.
“It’s been really a lot of fun and I’ve met some wonderful people over the years who I’ve stayed in touch with,” she said.
After her final day with IFI, Rising will be heading out west to Estes Park, CO.
“We own a home there that we bought that about seven years ago,” she said. “My husband and I have talked for some time about moving ourselves out there and
enjoying the Rocky Mountains. I want to go while I
’m still young and can go play.”
Rising’s retirement probably won’t slow her down too much. In fact, it might give her time to make sure she can
take a trip to Alaska, the only state that she
’s never passed through during all of her travels.
“I’ve only missed one state, she laughed, “but not for lack of trying. So, that’s another plan. I have to complete the circuit.”
