Shann Weston | Passages

December 20, 1950 – May 2, 2026

Longtime islander Shann Weston passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, May 2, at 2 p.m., surrounded by family.

Shann was born on Dec. 20, 1950, in Mexico City, to Robert Bruce Weston and Maria del Rosario Camarena. Raised in San Francisco and San Diego, she grew up a California girl whose world revolved around open spaces, horses, dogs, trees, and barefoot afternoons. Coming of age in the 1960s, she marched for civil rights and was shaped by the era’s passion for protest, music, and nature.

In 1971, drawn north “like a salmon,” she moved to Bellingham, Washington, where she attended Huxley College of Environmental Studies, earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies, and served as one of the first female firefighters on the Mt. Baker Hotshots and one of the first female backcountry rangers for Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. During this time, she also studied at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, where she met lifelong friends, and in Scotland, where she worked at the National Zoological Society.

Shann later moved to Alaska, where she earned a Master of Science in Natural Resources from the University of Alaska while working as a fisheries biologist. There she met her husband, Steve Porten, and became a mother to their two daughters. After moving to Oregon in 1988, Shann worked for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as Wildlife Education Coordinator, a role she treasured and later considered the golden era of her professional life.

In 1996, she won an international Guinness beer writing contest and became the owner of the Seanachaoi Pub in Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland. That same year, her family moved to San Juan Island, where Shann became a beloved teacher, naturalist, writer, and advocate for the Salish Sea. She taught at Spring Street International School and Skagit Valley College, worked aboard the Western Prince, and shared her love of the natural world through organizations including The Whale Museum, Road Scholar, and WSU Extension Beach Watchers.

Shann loved writing and was proud of her novel, Curve of the Moon. She loved travel, community, trees, whales, elephants, and time with family. In 2013, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Through years of treatment, including a stem cell transplant, she met illness with bravery and curiosity, befriending nurses and doctors along the way and continuing to write throughout her journey.

Above all, Shann was an incredible mother, teacher, and traveler. She loved the curiosity of young people and connecting youth to nature. She was warm, welcoming, and a trusted mentor to generations of island youth, delighting in the world and the shared humanity she found everywhere.

She is survived by her husband, Steve Porten; daughters Mariya Porten and Elena Porten; grandchildren Audrey and Wyatt Hamilton and Owynn and Emmett Skott; and her loyal dog, Izzy. Per her wishes, her ashes will be scattered in the Salish Sea.

In lieu of flowers, Shann requested that trees be planted in her honor or donations made to The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant sanctuary in Kenya.