In Memory
Birds Connect Seattle would like to honor the lives and legacies of extraordinary individuals who made lasting contributions to our mission, our community, and the birds we work to protect. These passionate supporters, advocates, and friends played vital roles in shaping our organization and inspiring others through their dedication to conservation.
Martha Nester (1935-2026)
Martha was an extraordinary and cherished part of the Birds Connect Seattle community for many decades. As a longtime volunteer, educator, and advocate, she helped shape our programs and inspire generations of young people to discover and care for the natural world. Her legacy continues in the programs she helped build and the many people she inspired.
Her enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication to birds, nature, and education left a lasting imprint on our organization. Those who worked alongside her remember her as an innovative teacher who brought learning to life through the Funding Urban Nature Program for school-aged children. She will also be remembered for her great generosity hosting Camp Naturalists at her home several summers so they could be part of the summer camp experience at Magnuson Park. Several of our staff fondly remember her generosity during the annual Birdathon fundraiser, where she offered additional donations to Birds Connect Seattle for every species above and beyond 100 that the team was able to identify during their 24-hour Big Day.
We are so grateful for all that Martha gave to this community. She will be remembered with deep appreciation and admiration.
Anne Mack (1932-2025)
Anne Mack: One of Washington State’s “Mothers of Nature”
1932 – 2025
A Remembrance by Dave Galvin
We recently lost one of the greats of Washington’s many lionesses of conservation: Anne Mack. Anne served as president of Seattle Audubon in the early 1970s and was a lifelong member of our local organization. When I, as a young, brash, newbie (after moving to Seattle in 1977), was elected president of the board in 1980 at age 26, she took me under her wing to fill me in on what was going on behind the scenes in Northwest environmental issues of the day: who to talk to, who to trust, who to watch out for. Invariably her recommendations for who to trust were women: Hazel Wolf, Helen Engle, Polly Dyer, Joan Thomas, Jolene Unsoeld, Vim Wright, Estella Leopold, and on. She was of the caliber and engagement of all of those wonderful women conservationists, and always supportive, always committed, always looking forward to a positive future for the Northwest.
Anne was instrumental in passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act and the 1968 establishment of the North Cascades National Park, volunteering in her early 30s as a key member of the North Cascades Conservation Council. More locally in the late ‘70s she was also instrumental in passage of King County’s Farmlands Preservation Act, which to date has protected more than 16,000 acres of farmland in our “urban” county via outright purchase or, more commonly, conservation easements. Anne was all about local foods as well as local nature.
My conservation buddy, Tom Campion, who cut his teeth via Seattle Audubon’s conservation committee in the late 1970s, describes Anne as a person who “got and loved nature;” someone who knew every plant, whether here in the Northwest or on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s tundra; who knew her birds and flowers and mushrooms as well as how to make the perfect German potato salad, saving every scrap so as not waste a morsel; and who also “got” how to deal with politicians to get environmental goals enacted. One of our local giants, now gone at age 92.
We live in her legacy, enjoying national parks as well as locally-preserved farmlands. Although not called out in name, Anne Mack was clearly one of our “Mothers of Nature,” so well celebrated in Dee Arntz’s wonderful book, “Extraordinary Women Conservationists of Washington.” If you haven’t read this Northwest classic, order a copy today through Birds Connect Seattle’s Nature Shop. Women environmentalists rock.
A lovely obituary, written by Anne’s observant children, can be found at the Seattle Times, https://obituaries.seattletimes.com/obituary/anne-mack-1092726047
Wayne Palsson (1955-2025)
Birds Connect Seattle member and volunteer
A celebration of life to honor Wayne was held at the Seattle Aquarium prior to his passing, concluding with resounding voices singing some of Wayne’s favorite chanteys and sea songs, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
Wayne, an avid birder for over 50 years, wished that donations be made in his honor to Birds Connect Seattle or Northwest Seaport, in lieu of flowers.
Read Wayne’s obituary.
Ethel J. Williams (1925-2023)
Ethel Williams was a long-time member of Birds Connect Seattle and a regular volunteer at the Seattle office. When she left as a volunteer, she was gifted with a print of an otter by Tory Pederson, which she treasured. Although she started late in life, she traveled to 96 countries and sighted an extraorginary total of 5,834 species of birds, of which her children hang on to.
Ethel generously made a bequest to Birds Connect Seattle in her will in support of education programs, for which she was involved in as a volunteer.
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Washington – Seattle, WA — Ethel Williams passed away at the age of 97 on Monday, September 18th surrounded by family. She was born Ethel Voege in Wenatchee, Washington. She had two brothers, Dick and Lee. After her parents divorced during the depression, her mother supported their family by working as a housekeeper in many small towns in Central and Eastern Washington.
On February 12th, 1943, Ethel married Albert Williams as he set off to the war in Europe. After his service ended and he completed college on the GI Bill, they ultimately settled on Mercer Island where they raised their five children: Allan, Paul, Mark, Teresa and Patrick. Ethel lived the most recent 37 years in West Seattle.
Ethel lived a life filled with curiosity, adventure, accomplishment, love of family, and love of life. She believed that age was no deterrent to fulfilling aspirations.
Ethel paved the way for women by refusing to be left behind by men. In her late 30’s, she pursued her dream to go to college, graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Washington. She continued her studies in 1967 as one of only 13 women in the UW law school, graduating 11th in her class and having been elected to Law Review. Ethel was 46 years old when she embarked on her legal career. For 18 years starting in 1978 she was a judge for the Board of Industrial Appeals primarily adjudicating workers’ compensation appeals.
Ethel joined the Seattle Mountaineers in her 30’s and earned the Ten Peak pin for climbing the tallest mountains in the state. In her 50’s she took up ocean kayaking. Later in life she fell in love with snorkeling, always the first in the water and last to leave. Her final snorkeling trip was at the age of 95 with her daughter Teresa. Ethel loved to travel and meet new cultures as well as pursue her avocation of birding. She traveled to 96 countries and sighted an extraordinary total of 5,834 species of birds. She was a long-time volunteer with the Seattle Audubon Society.
In between trips Ethel enjoyed quiet times in her home in West Seattle while reading and gardening. She never became complacent about the beauty of her waterfront home. She was always aware and enthralled by it – the sea, the birds, the mammals, the boats, the mountains, and the sky. Ethel had an amazing variety of outings with the 27 who were her children, grandchildren, and their spouses. She made a point of making them one-to-one so she could deepen her relationship with each family member.
Ethel is survived by her sons, Allan and Patrick, her daughter Teresa, as well as ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She is dearly missed.
The family requests that any donations in her memory be made to Birds Connect Seattle (formerly Seattle Audubon) or the ACLU. For full obituary and to leave memories, go to www.funerals.coop/obituaries
