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Foundation Mourns Loss of Jan Whitner

Bulletin spring 2011 cover

Jan edited the Bulletin from 2007 to 2013.

The Arboretum Foundation would like to acknowledge the passing of Jan Whitner. She died peacefully at home on December 7 after a two-and-one-half year battle with ovarian cancer. She was 64 years old.

Jan was a very accomplished Seattle garden creator and writer, who from 2007 to 2013 edited our quarterly magazine, the Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin. She put together many beautiful and memorable issues of the Bulletin, and was also a wonderfully warm person to work with.

“I first came to know Jan when she volunteered for the Seattle Chinese Garden and became the head of its horticulture committee,” says Foundation executive director Paige Miller. “When I first came to the Foundation in 2007, the Bulletin editor position was vacant and hiring a new editor was one of my first assignments. It was our good fortune that Jan agreed to apply for the job and accepted the position. She was such a gentle but persuasive person and brought such passion and dedication to the job. We have lost a gentle soul, a marvelous gardener and writer, and a dear friend.” 

Click here to read Jan’s obituary in the Seattle Times.