Jane Lee (Craig) Vierling was born in Brooklyn NY on Jan 24, 1931. Growing up a Brooklyn Dodger fan she spent many a balmy afternoon at Ebbets Field watching baseball with her dad. As the depression settled in for most, her family moved to Westfield NJ where she learned to play tennis, softball, field hockey and enjoyed vacations at Lake Bomoseen, and summer camp at Silver Lake. Lee was at Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947, when Jackie Robinson began his Major League career. Early on, Lee was passionate about civil rights, the environment, and women’s rights.

Lee graduated from Bucknell University with a BS in Education and was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority. After graduating, Lee became a teacher and then became a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines. Lee married Ed Vierling in 1960 and settled on Mercer Island to raise their two kids Craig and Jenny. Ed and Lee were married for 45 years until his death in 2005. While the kids were growing up, Lee taught preschool at Emanual Day School from 1970 to 1978 and enjoyed learning and creating stained glass art. In 1988, Lee earned her master’s in counseling from Seattle University and spent many years working as a counselor. In her later years, Lee was a pastoral lay minister for East Shore Unitarian Church, volunteered at Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce, and she drove her friends to appointments and events and when she could not walk or drive anymore, she would read to those that could not see.

Lee began life a dog person but ended as a cat person. Lee was preceded in death by two of her three cats, Gershwin, and Satchmo. Ella, her third cat companion, was adopted by the same person who adopted Gershwin and Satchmo when Lee moved into Horizon House. Oh yeah, she loved Jazz Music but warmed to Rock Music seeing the Rolling Stones at the Kingdome in 1997.

Lee excelled as a grandmother, an excellent listener, her four granddaughters benefited from her sage advice and would confide in her things they did not tell their parents. Lee shared in her passion to travel and learn with her grandkids, traveling to Scotland, England, and many visits to Ashland’s Shakespearian Festival.

Lee is survived by her son Craig Vierling, (Jennifer Durrie) and daughter Jenny Vierling (Tim Coulter) and four grandchildren Isabel, Zeirna, Madison (Chris) and Zoe.

We knew the end was near when the nightly Martini was declined…It had been a simple ritual of ours every night we were together, passing time with good conversation, looking at old pictures and slides while slowly sipping from the shallow cone chalice. Knowing that it was time when we had finished our olives, the appetizers waiting at the bottom of the glass to usher her to the awaiting…

She was an outrageous old woman who was never accused of being an old lady.

A Celebration of Lee’s life will be held at East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue WA on June 26, 2022, at 1:00pm in the afternoon. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Lifewire, (Lifewire.org) formally known as Eastside Domestic Violence Program where mom worked many years.