Ann Lanning

Ann Lanning passed peacefully on April 2nd 2026, at 96 years old. She was born in the Bronx, NY on July 28, 2029 to Ella Goldberg Sonkin and the renowned physicist Simon Sonkin. She lived and thrived and made the world a better place from both coasts.

She is survived by her sister Rhoda, Rhoda's children, Dan and Linda; three of her children, Hilary, Ron and Rick, and two grandsons, Casey L Hook and Simon J Barrows. She was predeceased by daughter Elizabeth in 2008.

Ann graduated from Stanford in 1949. While there, she met and married Bob Bolles. They lived in Berkeley, where Hilary was born, and then moved to the east coast where Bob taught psychology at Princeton (where Rick was born), Philadelphia (where Elizabeth was born), Rutgers, NJ and Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia (where Ron was born). Ann taught zoology and botany to the women college students at Hollins. In 1966 the family of 6 moved across country to Seattle where Bob taught at the University of Washington. After divorcing, Ann got her teaching certificate and taught science at Rainier Beach high school. In 1973 she married Norm Lanning, with whom she had many fun adventures.

Ann was very active with the University Unitarian church community from 1985 until the pandemic made it harder to travel. She worked on the newsletters back when they were sent via snail mail and brought flowers on Sundays. She did taxes for H &R block for many years and did taxes at the Seattle Library and for Hearthstone residents with the AARP IRS program. Teaching tax preparers and making that process less daunting was something that gave her purpose.

One of Ann's delights was traveling. With Road Scholar (formerly Elder Hostel) she went to Kenya, Galapagos, Alaska and English gardens with her sister.

An avid gardener, Ann was involved in the Picardo P patch for 30 years.

Ann also volunteered for 20 years at the Discover thrift shop, which benefited the local cancer society. In addition to working in the shop, she did much of the sewing and repairs.

In 2015 Ann made the huge decision to downsize her home and move into the vibrant community of the Hearthstone. She was involved with many activities, from current events and book groups to gardening, theater and museum field trips. More recently the Friday sings gave her pleasure.

The celebration of her life will be at the chapel at the Hearthstone, 6720 E Green Lake Way N, Seattle 98103 at 3 p.m. on Sunday May 3rd. Please come and share some of your reminiscences. In lieu of flowers please donate to Planned Parenthood or the Democratic party.