Jean Dun Porter
12/26/1923 - 2/26/2015
Born into a Toledo, Ohio, newspaper family, Jean spent 75 of her 91 years in Tucson. She attended the Hacienda del Sol ranch school for girls, learning to ride and to love the Southwest, later the University of Arizona. After a brief reporting career at the Toledo Blade, she returned to Tucson, where she married Willard H. Porter III in 1947. They spent most of their 26-year marriage in the historic Fort Lowell district adobe house that Willard's parents built in 1939. Jean raised three children while Willard edited the Quarter Horse Journal then published Hoofs 'n Horns. They enjoyed fishing in the Sea of Cortez, summers in La Jolla, CA and Cape May, NJ. Jean was an excellent photographer, and together they sold articles to Salt Water Sportsman and Fishing World. They divorced in 1973. Willard died in 1992, as did their son, Willard H. Porter IV. Jean was close to Willard's brother, Bob "Ro" Porter. They became Volunteer Naturalists for the Santa Catalina Ranger District, Coronado National Forest. Jean led Sabino Canyon bird walks and could identify dozens of birds by their songs alone. Fiercely independent and reliably capable, Jean serviced her own evaporative cooler and split logs well into her 70s. Days before her death, she wrote: "So here I am ready to shuffle off this mortal coilthankful for such a caring family." She is survived by daughters, Jeannette (Podie) Porter and Anne (Peavey) Van Olphen; son-in-law, Robert D. Gibson; grandchildren, Hannah Gibson-Moore, Abigail Gibson, Rebecca Porter, James Porter, Carrie Van Olphen and Alison Van Olphen; niece, Christine Porter and great-grandson, Griffin Moore. Memorial donations suggested to the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists. Arrangements by FUNERARIA DEL ANGEL.