Celia and Gary Parrott 

Celia and Gary founded the Hood Canal Land Trust in 1985, one of only two land trusts on the peninsula at the time and a driving force for creating others. Their anchor preserve, now called the Klingel-Bryan-Beard Wildlife Refuge, is GPC’s longest-owned property and the site of our first large-scale restoration project.  In 2014, the Parrotts donated a conservation easement on their 6-acre property to GPC, closing one of the final gaps of conserved shoreline along the Union River estuary. Today, an amazing 650 acres and 5.5 miles of shoreline have been conserved here by Great Peninsula Conservancy and many partners. Celia and Gary retired to the beautiful Sandhills of Nebraska over a decade ago and Gary passed away in 2021. Even from afar, Celia remains an active supporter of Great Peninsula Conservancy, and we are always pleased when she comes back to visit.  

Patricia Lantz 

Patricia Lantz has an extensive history of public service, including serving six terms in the House of Representatives in the 26th Legislative District and ten years on the Washington Parks and Recreation Commission. A graduate of the University of Puget Sound School of Law and Stanford University, Pat specialized in land-use planning and immigration law as an attorney. In the early 1970s, Pat chaired the Gig Harbor Comprehensive Plan Committee and helped to create a novel land use development plan that has successfully guided growth, preserving much of what makes the Gig Harbor Peninsula such a desirable place to call home. The plan was adopted by Pierce County and, to this day, protects natural areas performing essential ecological functions. Pat continued to lend her legal acumen to local conservation efforts as a founder of the Peninsula Heritage Land Trust where she helped to write the group’s 501c3 designation and by-laws as well as its first conservation easements. Pat and her husband John, a former GPC board member, remain active supporters of Great Peninsula Conservancy motivated by “Books and more books, saltwater shorelines, trees, green of all hues, the sound of rushing water, and those who know about the world writ large.”