Frances Whitney Urton

Fran Whitney Urton was born in Seattle, WA on February 4, 1922. She was the oldest of four children, two boys and two girls. She remembered her childhood as being “happy, happy” and “a most loving family”.

She practiced as a dental assistant for the Army Air Force before marrying Edwin Whitney in 1942. He was an accomplished pianist, an MIT grad and a Navy Lt. Commander. They were stationed in San Francisco, then Louisville, Kentucky, and back again to California where Ed was in charge of the Lighter-Than-Air Station in Tustin and where they built like-long friendships with other Military couples.

Their first daughter, Barbara, was born in California in 1945; their second child, Pam, in Seattle, WA in 1948; Becca, their third, in Portland, Oregon in 1950; and their son, Bill, in California in 1959.

In addition to an active life that included skiing, golfing and sailing, Fran studied art, especially sculpture, at Scripps College in Claremont, CA. And she was an active volunteer in the arts, including the Pacific Symphony, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, U.C. Irvine Town and Gown, Opera Pacific, Alzheimer’s Association, Cancer Society, Children’s Home Society and many many others, as well as providing music education for children and hosting students from different countries.

Fran lost Ed to heart disease in 1979 at about the same time their good friend, Tom Urton, lost his wife. But five years later, their friendship turned to love and Fran and Tom married in August of 1985. They lived 20 very happy years together until he died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2005.

After working with Peter Ueberroth for the 1984 Olympics, she traveled all over the world. And “all over” is not an exaggeration. Fran visited every state in the union and 129 countries! She travelled all continents on the globe except Antarctica. She climbed the Machu Picchu ruins in Peru, and the Borobudur Temple in Indonesia. In addition to many cruises, she sailed the Java Seas, along the Great Barrier Reef and through the Suez Canal.

Fran returned to the Seattle area in 2014. The last four years of her life she resided in Gig Harbor Washington at Heron’s Key. She enjoyed painting, bridge and dominoes with friends. She spent most of her time with her loving family, especially her great-grand daughters, Lyndsey and Whitney. By far her favorite activity in the last few years had to be watching Lyndsey and Whitney participate and compete on their competitive cheer team Max Velocity. In fact all 60+ cheerleaders adopted her as their own great-grandma.

Fran peacefully passed away at the age of 101 on Thursday June 22nd 2023 at 8:30am while her beloved granddaughter Briana held her hand and sang “You are my sunshine”.

She was a very beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend.

She is proceeded in by her first husband Ed, her second husband Tom, her daughter Barbara, her daughter Becca, her Father Clifford, her Mother Edith, her brother Dave, her brother Bud, and her sister Marge.

Fran is survived by her Son Bill Whitney; Daughter Pam Summerfield and Husband Tom; Grandson Scott Summerfield and wife Natalie and children Charles and Simon; Granddughter Cheri Tuchman and husband Brett and daughters Britton and Jordyn and coming soon Baby girl Tuchman; Grandson Brady and his wife Lindsay, sons Shamus and Gunnar and daughters Geena, Madison and Kiki ; Grandson Eric and wife Annika, daughters Brianna, Emma, Avah and Olivia and granddaughters Scarlett and Harlow. Granddaughter Brenda and Husband Richard, sons Nick and Sam , daughters Cari and Kayla and grandsons Nahoyo and Jacob; Grandson Joel Prosio and wife Jean, sons Anthony and David; Grandson Ryan and wife Lily, daughters Zoe and Kaia; Granddaughter Briana Whitney Leenstra and Husband Dan, daughters Lyndsey and Whitney.