Friday, July 18, 2025
Dr. Gregory Jantz, the founder and president of The Center: A Place of Hope in Edmonds, died July 4 shortly after 7:30 p.m. after an accident at his home.
Edmonds PD officers responded to a home on Dogwood Lane in Woodway, according to Cpl. Josh McClure. Edmonds supplies police services to the town.
Officers found Jantz trapped under an overturned convertible vehicle in the driveway of the private residence. "They used a combination of their strength and available tools to lift the vehicle, remove the victim, and begin CPR until Fire/EMS arrived," McClure said.
Jantz, 65, died from his injuries. During the initial investigation and witness interviews, officers learned Jantz was attempting to back his vehicle into a basement-level garage when one side of the vehicle’s tires made contact with a retaining wall, and the other side continued to descend the slope of the driveway, ultimately causing the vehicle to overturn.
"We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of Dr. Gregory Jantz, who tragically lost his life in an unexpected accident about 8 p.m. yesterday, July 4, at his home in Woodway," said Shannon Sessions, Support 7 executive director and spokesperson for the family.
"Dr. Jantz tragically died as a result of an unfortunate accident while driving a vehicle on his private property. The incident was a shocking and heartbreaking mishap, and the family is still processing this profound loss.
"The family is deeply touched by the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from friends, colleagues, and members of the public during this incredibly difficult time. They ask for privacy and respect for the family as they navigate this heartbreaking loss."
Jantz is the husband of LaFon Jantz and father of two adult sons and a daughter-in-law. LaFon co-owns Red Twig, a cafe on Fifth Avenue South, which she bought with her husband from Scott and Cindy Abrahamson in 2017.
The Abrahamsons rebuilt the restaurant and named it the Red Twig after purchasing it in 2004. It was formerly a gas station and, later, Brusseau's, named after owner Jerilyn Brusseau.
"We remained friends when we were in Edmonds, and are so sad to hear of his Gregg's passing," said Cindy Abrahamson. (Jantz used two "g's" when shortening his name.)
The Jantz's son, Gregg Jr., founded Segway of Edmonds in 2017 at The Landing building on the waterfront. The business has since closed.
The Beacon profiled Benjamin and the Jantz family in July 2017.
Greg Jantz arrived in Seattle after growing up in Boise and graduating from Boise High School. “I came to Seattle on the day that Mount St. Helens blew up,” he told the Beacon at the Red Twig.
“I was coming here to go to school at Seattle Pacific. I was on the freeway at the Renton S-curves. The sky grew dark, and cars pulled off the freeway. I thought, what’s going on? I’m just a kid moving here. I didn’t know there was a volcano.”
After that welcome, Jantz quickly settled in, studying counseling and psychology at Seattle Pacific University while working as a disc jockey for legendary radio personality Pat O’Day. It was at SPU that Jantz met his wife, LaFon.
As he explained it, they both had a vision of starting a counseling center in Puget Sound; research suggested they might do well on the booming Eastside, home to Microsoft and other tech companies.
“But we’d been to Edmonds and just loved it,” Jantz said. “So we decided that Edmonds was where we wanted to live.”
That was in 1982. After short stints in downtown Edmonds and Richmond Beach, the couple moved to their current home in Woodway in 1987.
The Center, at 547 Dayton St., is a counseling facility founded in 1984 that provides nutrition, fitness, natural health care – “whole person care,” as Jantz called it – that includes programs for depression, stress, addiction, sexual abuse, eating disorders, “high profile privacy” and “spiritual renewal.”
“We look at all the issues,” Jantz said. “It’s all individual, based on what they need in a program. It’s not inpatient, but we have facility housing.”
The “whole person,” Jantz said, incorporates the emotional, physical, and spiritual. Jantz was a religious man who, as his books make clear, offered a “biblically sound advice” to help people come “to an understanding of God, not as a frightening authority figure or an accusing judge, but as a loving Creator, Redeemer, and friend.”
He emphasized, however, that treatment at the Center is tailored to individual needs.
Gregory Jantz wrote more than 45 books and specialized in what he called "whole person care." He led a team of licensed, and board-certified professionals providing treatment to those suffering from depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addiction, PTSD, and more.
He spoke about behavioral health afflictions, appearing on CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, and CNN.
His final YouTube video came on June 30.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office will provide confirmation of the victim’s identity as well as the cause and manner of death.
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