Member Highlight – Bren Whittaker

Written by Colleen Robinson

We are so honored by our Lifetime Members! Bren Whittaker of Brunswick, Vermont is a founding member of the Guild as well. Though he doesn’t walk the woods much these days, so many acres have benefited from his care. Some of his footprints are seen in the form of the Vermont Outstanding Tree Farm Award that he and his wife Dorothy and family earned in 2023 (and that wasn’t the only award)! Bren treasures being part of the Guild community. He and his family have been strong supporters since the beginning. It’s truly part of their identity and Bren is part of ours – having helped shape the Guild all these years. The connection is strongly acknowledged in Bren’s note to the Guild, which summarizes Dorothy Whittaker’s obituary from last winter.

“Dorothy Alden Whittaker of Brunswick VT passed away on December 10, 2025. She was the spouse and longtime partner of Guild Founding & Lifetime Member, Brendan J.Whittaker. They met in 1952  as lab partners  in a soils course when Bren was in UMass Forestry School and Dorothy was majoring in Agriculture. They would have been married for 70 years in May 2026. Dorothy had many years as as a school teacher, loved by her students, and subsequently  had a successful commercial vegetable farm business. She was proud to have their sixty-eight acre farm and forest land named as the 1983 “Vermont Tree Farm of theYear”by the American Tree Farm System. She and Brendan had three children, one of whom is also a professional forester.”

Bren’s Lifetime Membership is an honor for the Guild, and we thank Bren and the gifts of another supporting member for making it possible. Thank you to the Whittaker family for your legacy. Thanks for all you do for forests, and for walking with the Guild community all along the way.