Our dear Jeannie passed away January 11th on her boat in Quartermaster Harbor, surrounded by loved ones. She left life as she had lived it; with determination, grace and love. Since her diagnosis with fatal cancer in September of 2016 she had spent her days with those closest and dearest to her. All who knew her felt the quality of attention and love she brought to her interactions with people. She touched a great many lives in positive ways too numerous to recount.

Born the oldest child to James and Mable Bosch, Jeannie was fortunate to spend three years of her early life living on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. To keep her company, Mable imported shirt-tail relatives and cousins who lived with them for months at a time. Jeannie loved saddling up her pony and taking out across the desert by herself or with a cousin for hours at a time. Perhaps this contributed to her life-long dedication to independence and self-determination.

By the time she was twelve, the family was living in the Seattle area and she found herself with a new sibling, Leslie, whom she fiercely loved and looked out for until the day she died.

When in high school, she spent a year living in Wales and working at a small inn. Later, she caught the sailing bug from her father and spent many freezing cold days crewing for sailboat races on Bellingham Bay and Lake Whatcom. She also had some "close-call" adventures sailing up and down the west coast of the continent and felt fortunate to have survived those events. She was a brave gal!

Her marriage in 1977 to Lloyd Corgan resulted in the birth of her only son, Patrick Corgan, whom she dearly loved and cherished.

She and Patrick moved to Vashon Island in 1989, where she made a life, forged deep personal connections and made heroic contributions to the community up until her death.( Please see the article in this issue of the paper for more details about her work and community service.)

Jeannie's family wishes to thank everyone who gave back to Jeannie and to them as she navigated the last few months of her life. It was a bittersweet time and the outpouring of love was so appreciated by Jeannie and her family.

She is survived by her son, Patrick Corgan and his wife Susie Olson-Corgan and their son Liam. Also her sister, Leslie Ferriel and her husband, Evan Simmons, and their sons, Nicholas Simmons, Samuel Hankin and Wade Hankin.

A celebration of her life will be held at the Camp Burton Lodge on the afternoon of February 19th.

The family invites you to join in as we mourn her passing and acknowledge her importance in our lives.

Donations in Jeannie's name can be made to Vashon Household or Voice of Vashon.