Family and friends will gather Sunday to remember Jennifer Lantz. Here’s the remembrance they are sharing:

On August 21, Jennifer Jane Lantz passed away from natural causes at her home in north Seattle. She was 71 years old.

Jennifer was born to Ruth and Ware Lantz in West Seattle and had all the privileges that went with being the youngest of five children. She earned the nickname “Winky” as a funny toddler, and kept it through high school (Sealth ’69). Her playground was the Fauntleroy beach and Lincoln Park, and local adventures included riding bikes to Alki and the Alaska Junction, and time on the water at the family summer lake place and in family boats on Puget Sound. She grew up through the Fauntleroy YMCA, participating in “gym and club,” tumbling classes, Junior Leaders, ski lessons, Camp Colman summer camp for 10 years. After high school she spent time living in Mexico, and later volunteered with an international organization to inventory indigenous weaving styles in remote Guatemalan villages. That ignited her love of travel and indigenous arts.

She married Bill Osteen in 1993 and they traveled to cities and backcountry in Bali, Central America, Turkey, and Romania, among others. Highlights always included the local markets, eating local food, and absorbing local traditions. In 1998 they traveled to China to adopt their daughter Jane Ming, a most cherished event in their lives. In later years, Jennifer raised Jane as a single parent and saw her through to her bachelor degree in math at Western Washington University.

Jennifer’s calling was horticulture, in which she earned a degree. She gained experience at several large-scale nurseries in the Portland area, and discovered that it was not a field that paid well. She subsequently trained in computer programming, and when she moved back to Seattle, she worked at PEMCO Financial Services, writing program for banks to borrow funds overnight.

After starting her family, she turned to more flexible work (and her love) in landscape design and gardening, and developed a devoted following. She was indeed a gardener extraordinaire. The garden was where she felt at peace and spent much, time, rain or shine. She also loved classical music and was a voracious reader, both of which sustained her as she became less able to garden.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ware and Ruth Lantz and her sister Christine Lantz. She is survived by her daughter Jane Ming Lantz Osteen, and her 3 siblings: Paul (Kathy) Lantz, Judy Leary, and Susan Lantz-Dey (Mike Dey).

A memorial service will be held October 29 at 1:30 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Amnesty International amnesty.org, Northwest Harvest northwestharvest.org, or charity providing housing, clothing, food for underserved people.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)