The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Lorna Brown, Legacy Club © Douglas King

Lorna Brown and her late husband, Dr. David Brown, embraced the world, seeking adventure and experiences with nature from Vietnam and Thailand to the Cascade Mountains, exploring the Skagit River region and Mount Rainier.

Dr. Brown’s medical career took the couple to Southeast Asia in the late 1960s. Lorna worked as a librarian for the United States Information Agency in Bangkok while he worked in public health for the State Department in Vietnam. When they were able to meet, they explored the region together.

“I loved being in the mountains of Thailand,” Lorna recalled. “Deep forests with warm breezes flowing through them.”

Back in Seattle, the couple explored the mountains above the Skagit River and hiked Mount Rainier.

“I think Sunrise at Mount Rainier is the most beautiful place in the world,” Lorna said.

They took inspiration from Asian gardens and re-created the forests they loved in their own garden overlooking Lake Washington. Scattered throughout are stones they had gathered from their adventures.

When it came time to think about their estate plan, they knew they wanted to protect the environment, Lorna said.

"We wanted to protect this place for the future. Legacy actually is a really good word for what we were thinking," she said. “We chose The Nature Conservancy because it has immense credibility, and because it works with the people who live in the areas they are trying to protect, both here in Washington and around the world.”