Dayna Sue Lane

Dayna Sue Lane, 82, of Tulsa, Oklahoma passed away peacefully on October 25, 2022, in Arlington, Virginia. Dayna was an accomplished organic gardener, gardening writer/photographer, plant educator and devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

Dayna was born in Tulsa on September 30, 1940, to Robert Lane and Pauline Bullock. After the death of her mother in 1945, Dayna’s father married Ruth Hall, who adopted Dayna and her younger sister Vicki, with Robert adopting Ruth’s daughters Marilyn, Diana and Patsy.

In 1958, Dayna married Philip J. Breeden, with whom she raised three children, Philip Jr., Robin, and Adam. After her divorce, Dayna returned to school and was a proud graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz. She worked tirelessly to educate people about sustainable agriculture, writing a column about beneficial insects for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, writing articles and contributing to books about organic gardening, teaching botany at Dundalk Community College in Maryland, and working for the U.S. Botanical Garden in Washington, D.C.

Throughout her life, Dayna created beautiful landscapes wherever she lived. She loved spending time in the garden with her grandchildren and organic gardening remains a family passion. She was an avid photographer with a keen eye for detail such as tiny insects and delicate flowers. She loved her family deeply and traveled the world to be with them.

She was not a stay-at-home grandma. She lived near the beach in California, stayed in a yurt in rural France, sat with lemurs in Madagascar, bargained for rugs in the covered bazaar of Istanbul, roamed the ruins of Carthage in Tunisia, and climbed Big Rock and Mt. Pisgah on Beaver Island on Lake Michigan.

Dayna’s struggle with Alzheimer’s led to her final move to be close to her daughter. Dayna is survived by Philip and his wife Laurence of Aix-en-Provence, France, Robin and her husband Michael of Arlington, VA, Adam and his wife Véronique, of Mauriac, France, and seven grandchildren, Aurélien and his wife Hélène, Tristan, Nicole, Julia, Clifford, Tamaya and Leela, and two great-grandchildren: Rose Nane and Alice Sue.

A celebration of life service will be organized in Tulsa, Oklahoma at a later date. Donation in lieu of flowers can be made in her memory to the Tulsa Botanic Garden (tulsabotanicgarden.org).