Lee WHITNEY

1942 - 2018

WHITNEY, Lee October 30, 1942 - September 1, 2018 Lee Whitney passed away at her Sonoma, California home on September 1, 2018 after a long battle with Multiple Myeloma, surrounded by her five boys. Lee was born in Melrose Massachusetts, the daughter of John Loew and Barbara Brigham Whitney. She attended Melrose public schools and the University of Connecticut. Lee became interested in horses at an early age. She got her first horse at age 13, joined Pony Club for jumping contests, then later rode many long-distance and endurance races during her life, and was still mucking out her horse barn and riding her own horses up to the week of her death. She first married Robert (Bob) Fish of Pennsylvania in 1962 and had three sons with him. They lived in Randolph Center, Vermont, in Ann Arbor, Michigan while Bob took a forestry degree, and in the Canadian Rockies, before returning to Randolph Center in 1971. Lee married David Silloway of Randolph Center, Vermont in 1974 and had two more sons with him. During her early years of child raising and helping on the farm, Lee also obtained a nursing degree from Thompson School for Nurses in Brattleboro, Vermont. In 1986, Lee moved to San Francisco for a few years, then to Sonoma, California. For years, she worked as a traveling, visiting nurse, later she volunteered for Meals on Wheels in Sonoma County. She married Michael Reddy in 1990; Michael preceded Lee in death. Everyone knew Lee as a very independent person who wanted to live her life on her own terms. There were many changes in her life, but she successfully approached them with optimism and vigor. She was an outgoing person with many friends, both horse people and those in other social circles. She liked people and they liked her. She loved her large family and participated enthusiastically in the many Whitney family reunions over the years. She enjoyed good food, especially steaks from the Outback Steak House, and enjoyed her vodka and white wine in the evening. Lee is survived by her brother, Wells Whitney of San Francisco, California, and her five sons: Michael Loew and Linda Fish of Lake Placid, New York, Robert (Robbie) Whitney Fish of Randolph Center, Vermont, Mark Whitney Fish and Kelly Wheatley of Randolph, Vermont, John and Bethany Silloway of Randolph Center, Vermont, and Justin and Kristen Silloway of Sonoma, California. Lee has three Fish and six Silloway grandchildren, Jasmine Paul, Jessica Dunbar, Josh Fish, Amber Silloway, Ava Silloway, Jackson Silloway, Jacob Silloway, Joshua Silloway, and Adriana Hernandez. She was predeceased by sisters Barbara Whitney Balding of Long Island, New York, and Rosalie Whitney McGeoch of Tucson, Arizona. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to in Lee Whitney's name to Mounted Assistance Unit, Jack London State Park, 2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, California, 95442 or Gifford's Last Mile Ride, 44 South Main St., Randolph, Vermont 05060, or to a charity of your choice. A memorial celebration for friends and family is being planned for next spring in Randolph Center, Vermont.