Loret Thatcher obituary


Loret Thatcher aka Loret Setters was a transplant from New York and one of the first things she did to learn about our Florida native plants was to join the Florida Native Plant Society Pine Lily Chapter.

She joined with great determination, enthusiasm, passion and eagerness to learn. She began as Pine Lily’s newsletter editor. She went on to do an amazing job with publicity.

She started a blog called “What Florida Native Plant Is Blooming Today?” chronicling what was blooming in her own small yard. This was followed by “Tales of a Central Florida Wildlife Garden” and “Central Florida Critter of the Day”. All of them wildly successful and followed by people around the world. In addition, she was a member of two team blogs: Beautiful Wildlife Gardens and Native Plant & Wildlife Gardens along with top garden writers around the country.

Her excellent photography of native plants, butterflies, and insects have been everywhere including Alabama Butterfly Atlas, Earth and Space News, The Humane Gardener, and others. Her photography was also on exhibit at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre for 3 months for the Going Native exhibit.

Loret was a local activist against putting a road through Split Oak Forest Wildlife and Environmental Area. She was also a local activist against putting coal ash into Osceola County landfill. She was a local activist against political corruption.

Loret was a private person and did not talk much about her past or her disability of severe scoliosis or her long battle with colon cancer. She did share her love for her dogs, mostly elderly setters that she adopted. Her name on Facebook, Loret T. Setters, illustrates both her desire for privacy and her love for her English Setter dogs.

Written by Jenny Welch and Ginny Stibolt

Comments

Sue T said…
Thank you for sharing you words about Loret Thatcher.I met her years ago at the dog park with her pals at the time Blizzard and Chili. Thru the years we met more of her senior dogs, each one seemed to feel lucky to be in her pack!.
Loret was an interesting lady living a good life and I miss her.
June 13, 2021 at 2:45 PM
Cammie Donaldson said…
Loret Thatcher was an amazing self-taught naturalist who painstakingly sought out and identified every insect on her property, every plant, and educated so many others in the process. Her photography, writing and humble advocacy and passion were invaluable to our cause. She is much loved and will be missed terribly.
July 25, 2021 at 3:58 PM
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