Grace "Jean" Milnor

Grace “Jean” Milnor died from complications of dementia in Seattle on March 16, 2026 at age 96. She was born in Superior, Wisconsin, on Nov. 7, 1929, one week after the stock market crash, to Leonard and Robina Olson. She grew up in a house her father built by hand during the Great Depression in nearby South Range. A self-proclaimed tomboy, she loved climbing trees on their 10-acre farm and exploring nearby creeks and ponds.

In 1941 the family moved to Seattle where her father found work in the shipyards as a blacksmith. She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1947 and went on to work at The Boeing Company. She and a friend were taking a climbing course with The Mountaineers Club when she met a young Boeing engineer named Robert “Bob” Milnor. Together, she and Bob climbed peaks and mountains throughout Washington and beyond. On one outing, they climbed Mt. Rainier via different routes and met on the top. She and Bob married in 1952; their honeymoon included summitting the Matterhorn in Switzerland.

Soon she and Bob moved to the Seward Park neighborhood of Seattle where they raised their four children: John (Marge) of Mount Vernon, Karen of Seattle; Bruce (Lynne) of Renton, and Diane (Karin Mitchell) of Covington. She eventually went back to college, proudly graduating in 1972 from the University of Washington with a degree in Health Education. Jean and Bob divorced in 1992.

Jean is also survived by six grandchildren: Seaver, Rogan, Justin (Katie) and Taylor (Taylor) Milnor, Jackson and Kailey (Miles) Higgins, as well as five great-grandchildren: Halle, Harper and Coen Milnor, and Danielle and Keiran Kenney.

Jean’s interests included travelling the world (31 countries in all), bird watching, writing children’s stories, reading, and walking Seward Park daily with the neighborhood ladies. But she will perhaps best be remembered for her adventurous spirit and willingness to try just about anything. Besides climbing, she enjoyed hiking, backpacking, camping and skiing with the family. She also tried many thrill-seeking sports including skydiving at age 60, riding a camel in Morocco, parasailing in Mexico, sailing in Greece, tandem paragliding, canoeing, ziplining, and rafting the Grand Canyon. Those who knew her well will also remember that she loved little more than finding a good deal on a “treasure” at a thrift store, especially The Goodwill in Rainier Valley.

She was preceded in death by her parents Leonard and Robina Olson of Seattle; sisters Margaret Savory (Ernie) of Port Angeles; Ruby Ivey (Harold) of Richmond Beach; and her favorite brother Stewart Olson (Betty) of Winlock.

She is interred at Evergreen Washelli in Seattle. A private family memorial will be held later this year in her honor.