Judy Thomas Van Deen passed away quietly on Aug. 16, 2011. She was born June 5, 1927, in Seattle to Franklin and Vivian Thomas. Growing up on Queen Anne Hill, Judy was a member of Phi Mu Sorority at the University of Washington. After college, she worked at KIRO radio and TV in Seattle.

In 1951, she married Robert A. Van Deen and began a 60-year marriage. Judy worked as a writer and reporter for local north Seattle newspapers while raising a family. She was the first executive director of the chamber of commerce of the new City of Shoreline. Judy was also editor of Seattle Magazine.

Judy’s grandfathers were pioneers in the Puget Sound area, both starting and running successful businesses (one a sawmill, the other a fish cannery) on Waldron Island in the 1890s. She spent weekends and summers on Whidbey Island throughout her life before retiring to the island in 1988.

Judy will be missed by her husband, Bob, and children, Tom (Peggy), Ross (Nancy), and Vivian Smith (Michael) as well as grandchildren Matthew and Valerie Mock, Michael, Alex and Christine Van Deen.

A celebration of Judy’s life will be at the Coupeville Methodist Church Saturday, Nov. 26, at 2 p.m. Memorials in Judy’s memory may be sent to The Murie Center, a non-profit foundation, “inspiring mindful action on behalf of wild nature” (www.muriecenter.org).