Hazel “Florence” Whittier, 89, of Rimrock, died Dec. 26.
Born in California, she and her husband moved to Sedona in 1988, where they opened a small store that contained goods from local artists and antique firearms.
She was predeceased by her husband, Fred; parents, Robert and Frances; sisters and brothers-in-law, Elizabeth [Joseph] and Lorraine [Bill]; and nephew, Richard.
She is survived by her brother, Robert [Selvina]; stepson, Allen [Jeanene]; grandchildren, Brittany [David] and Steven; and a number of nieces and nephews.
Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rocks News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been featured in Editor & Publisher magazine. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet." In January 2025, the International Astronomical Union formally named asteroid 29722 Chrisgraham (1999 AQ23) in his honor at the behest of Lowell Observatory, citing him as "an American journalist and longtime managing editor of Sedona Red Rock News. He is a nationally-recognized slam poet who has written and performed multiple poems about Pluto and other space themes."
