With a smile on her face and peace in her heart, Jan Tyler moved on from this part of her journey after a lifetime of joys and challenges she wouldn’t have missed for anything.
Jan was born Janet Catherine Ross to Gilson and Katherine Ross in Eugene, Oregon, on July 9, 1935, and left us on September 15, 2011. She graduated from St. Helen’s Hall in Portland, Oregon, and attended the University of Oregon in Eugene. She was married to David Tyler in 1954, a marriage that produced the most special people in her life and those of whom she is most proud: Karen Tyler Kashmar of Olympia, Washington, and her son, Craig Tyler of Ventura, California. Divorced in 1960, Jan moved from Eugene to Santa Barbara.
A single mom, Jan was determined to build a great life for herself and her children and begin a long career in escrow and related fields. After varied apprenticeships, she founded Sterling Escrow. She became the expert in Santa Barbara for escrows, opening offices in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, and Santa Paula. She also taught escrow classes at Santa Barbara City College for a number of years. Becoming an acknowledged expert in tax-deferred exchanges of real property, she was, in 1988, one of the cofounders of First Exchange Corporation, the first national tax-deferred exchange intermediary in the United States.
