Meet Lee Ann Haney

Lee Ann was born and raised in Crystal Lake, Il., a suburb northwest of Chicago. When she left for college she moved on from her hometown and eventually settled in Virginia Beach for 27 years. She and her husband moved in 2023 to West Ghent, Norfolk, to an urban area condo that balances out their North Carolina mountain home environment.

Lee Ann’s education includes a Liberal Arts degree from St. Leo’s as well as specified Information Technology certifications. In April 2023, she retired from a software company as their Customer Support and Account Management Director, supporting the medical education community’s online education delivery and reporting needs.

Lee Ann has loved gardening since childhood, and joined the Norfolk Master Gardeners to learn more about how to exercise her passion. She has always enjoyed educating, so the prospect of getting outside with some skill behind her love for plants coupled with opportunities for educating others, seemed like the perfect fit.

The master gardener classes far exceeded her expectations. She couldn’t wait to get up and get to class and felt like the season flew by. She especially appreciated the incredibly talented teachers that were brought in to instruct. And she was impressed by how many additional continuing educational opportunities were opened to the class.

Lee Ann volunteered for ten different projects as she worked towards her fifty-hour requirement. She enjoyed everything from planting in verges for the city, to helping with the St. Patrick’s Li’l Sprouts afterschool gardening program, to planting and pulling invasives in the Weyanoke Bird Sanctuary. So far, she is especially drawn to the native pollinator gardens and opportunities that allow her to interact with the public. However, she plans to continue trying as many other opportunities as she can, keeping an open mind until it’s clear where she best fits in.

In addition to gardening, other hobbies include collecting art, doing botanical plate printing, and knitting. Additionally, Lee Ann and her husband, Mike, live in North Carolina for part of the year, tending a mountain home environment that includes a blackberry and raspberry farmette and growing a number of pollinators.

Lee Ann and Mike have eight adult children and five grandchildren. They also enjoy sharing their homes with Rosie and Escher, their dog and cat, who keep them from getting too selfish in their retirement.

When you see Lee Ann, be sure to introduce yourself and welcome her to the NMGV.