I am deeply saddened to hear of Diane's passing. A year before the reunion, when I had a book signing at Barnes&Nobel, Diane reached out to me to make sure there would be our classmates in attendance. She was to be in attendance, also, but wasn't up to it at the time. The most delightful outcome was that we talked frequently throughout the year and reunited our friendship and shared our stories and laughed and giggled like teenagers. I missed her so much at the reunion because she worked so hard to make it happen. It is so very difficult to believe that she is not with our class of '61. This is truly a profund loss for all of us but her energy and love will live on and she will be in our hearts forever.
It is just so sad to go so soon. Grandchildren and children missing her devotion. Wonderful lady who had spirit and enthusiasm. Rest in Peace. And thank you for your effort. Frank
When I received the news about Diane's passing yesterday I was in shock. I was just thinking about her recently and was wondering about her health. Immediately I said a prayer for her and her family. I didn't know her that well but she was always pleasant to talk to. Such a pretty girl and so sad she is gone, however, never forgotten. She now is that brightest star up in the heavens watching over us all. RIP our sweet Diane. Carole
My deepest condolences to Diane's family. I have not seen or talked to Diane since the early 60's when I visited Bill Reed for a weekend at Seattle U. My memories of Diane are of a sweet, friendly and thoughtful person. May she rest in peace.
It was with great sadness that Diane's daughter, Debi, emailed me on her mom's passing. She had pulled through so much and I hoped and prayed that she would also pull out of this terrible infection.
Diane and I had been good buddies since our family first moved to Mill Valley back in the 1940's when Diane and I were about five years old. The Gooch family was always such an important part of our lives and are much loved by our family. Diane and I were in many classes together at Park Elementary School in Mill Valley and at MC I was always in awe of Diane - so nice, smart, pretty, popular! Wow! Always such a great friend to have. I remember attending her wedding in Sonoma and how beautiful she was that day, as always. We then sort of lost touch except during times of loss, such as those of our parents. Our families were always together in spirit through the years, though, and kept in touch at holidays and birthdays.
Diane and I really got back more in touch when we had a tiny Mill Valley Reunion of the "girls" back from our days in Brownies and Girl Scouts in Mill Valley. That was in 2008.Only six of us came to my home in Lincoln for a fun day of nostaglia. The "oldies" were Diane, Jenny Siebert, and myself. The :"youngsters" (by a year or two) were Sandy Gooch, Barb Morgan, and Linda Graver, these three going to places like Mt. Angel's in Oregon for school so not part of the MC group. After that we all decided to not let forty or more more years escape us again without getting together!
After that Diane was really "after" me via email to get on Facebook and connect with this wonderful website and get ready for the reunion! She was so excited about it all and did so much work on it. I am not good at technology so she "walked" me through how to do it and what an experience she and the others involved created for the rest of us! I am so thankful to her for being such a driving force in getting our wonderful reunion together and was so sad that she couldn't attend. So very happy that Antone, Petite, Colleen, and Mike were able to meet with my husband and myself to bring the reunion to Diane. We were able to get a private room for the afternoon and Antone really did it up right by bringing ALL of the reunion things to share with Diane.We shared snacks, conversation, and all the great visuals set up all around the room. We had hoped to return and finish the "show" some day, but that was not to be. Diane really did enjoy seeing all the items and it was a heart-warming experience for all of us.
I was lucky enough to be able to have several visits with Diane in the Rehab Hospital and we were able to have some good laughs and share things from "back in the day". I was always so impressed as how much she was able to keep up her spirits that she would soon be out of rehab and back living her life as she wanted. She really wanted to buy a new car! She kept up a grand sense of humor and the two of us would sit on her bed and have some good laughs over our state as "old ladies". Believe me, not easy as she really was dealing with such horrible physical limitations yet kept right on trying.
Our last visit was really a wonderful memory now. It was probably 6 weeks ago and Diane was looking much improved. She was perkier and had even gained some weight. We even discussed possible "escape plans" for her and had a laugh over that. She had requested a pastrami sandwich and did she ever enjoy it. I will always remember the joy she got from the very simple things in life. She loved the Fanta orange drink and her potato chips! One visit we sat on her bad and ate Oreo's! I left that last day so excited about her progress and then two days later received that email that she had taken another fall and broken her hip so was back in the hospital for surgery. Just sure didn't seem fair!!
I am so happy that her sister, Sandy, was able to be with her in her last days and that her 3 lovely children were there with her to have some final time together. She is the oldest of seven children and will so very missed by so many. She was a talented, lovely, beautiful person and I feel very fortunate to have had Diane as a part of my life. May she rest in peace. I love you Diane and will always treasure our friendship and the many, many fond memories of our times together over all these many years.
Diane, you are probably shaking your head at me now...do I sign this or does the computer know it is from me??? Well, my friend, I'll sign "just in case".
I will always remmber Diane's incredibly lovely smile and was looking forward to seeing her at the reunion but heard she was not well enough to attend. Bits and pieces of news about her failing health was disturbing, but there was always the hope she would rally and improve. It seems such a cliche to say, "Well, she's in a better place and no longer in pain. . . ." but at the end of the day, it is what we hope for her.
I fear we are approaching the age when we will see more of these sad announcements, so I do hope we can have another reunion (on a less epic scale as our 50th) before more of us are added to the In Memory. . .
I raise a toast to you Dianne - not so much to mourn your passing, but to celebrate your life.
I am so sad about Diane. I had not seen her since graduation but she was close to me because we share the same birthday.We were friends as little girls in Mill Valley. They lived in an apartment over Russell and Gooch Mortuary. I was visiting one day and her Mom took us down stairs with her. I asked who lived there and she said guests. After that when anyone died my Dad said they went to be guests at Russell and Gooch. When we turned 16 my family through a luau for all the girls in our class to celebrate. It was much fun. We are at a place where we are loosing too many to soon and it makes me think about my life and what i'm doing. I do feel very sad this morning because another bit of past has slipped away, I hope to a much better place. With prayers and love, Susan
Wow. I came back from a transatlantic cruise to find this bad news in my inbox. I am stunned.
I always considered Diane a friend, despite the fact our social circles in high school didn't usually overlap. We became much closer when she enlisted me as a co-planner of last year's reunion. Among the four of us, Antone, Diane, Jo and myself, there were times when one of us would drop out of the picture and the rest would carry on. That also happened with Diane and many attempts were made to get in touch with her by phone and by email, to no avail. At the time, we didn't know what had happened to her: that she had taken a fall and hadn't been found for a couple of days. Since then, she never came out of rehab and remained incommunicado.
As most of you know, Diane was in a great deal of pain for several years. I think the reunion was a very important way she could get her mind off her condition and focus on a positive goal. It was a privilege to work with her. I never had an opportunity to see her face to face since high school, but we talked on the phone and emailed many times. I will truly miss her.
Thank you, Carole, for sharing your stories about Diane and being such a good friend. And thanks to those who cheered up her with the reunion memories.
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Joan Moran
I am deeply saddened to hear of Diane's passing. A year before the reunion, when I had a book signing at Barnes&Nobel, Diane reached out to me to make sure there would be our classmates in attendance. She was to be in attendance, also, but wasn't up to it at the time. The most delightful outcome was that we talked frequently throughout the year and reunited our friendship and shared our stories and laughed and giggled like teenagers. I missed her so much at the reunion because she worked so hard to make it happen. It is so very difficult to believe that she is not with our class of '61. This is truly a profund loss for all of us but her energy and love will live on and she will be in our hearts forever.
Joan Moran
Susan Matteson (Catinella)
My thoughts and prayers are with Dianes family, I remember her as a lovely person may she rest in peace, sincerely Susan Matteson Catinella
Gary Ragghianti
May she rest in peace.
She will be missed but remembered always.
Gary T Ragghianti
Frank Dolman
It is just so sad to go so soon. Grandchildren and children missing her devotion. Wonderful lady who had spirit and enthusiasm. Rest in Peace. And thank you for your effort. Frank
Carole Curtin (Lang)
When I received the news about Diane's passing yesterday I was in shock. I was just thinking about her recently and was wondering about her health. Immediately I said a prayer for her and her family. I didn't know her that well but she was always pleasant to talk to. Such a pretty girl and so sad she is gone, however, never forgotten. She now is that brightest star up in the heavens watching over us all. RIP our sweet Diane. Carole
John Clancy
My deepest condolences to Diane's family. I have not seen or talked to Diane since the early 60's when I visited Bill Reed for a weekend at Seattle U. My memories of Diane are of a sweet, friendly and thoughtful person. May she rest in peace.
Jack
Carole Nannery (Chicoine)
It was with great sadness that Diane's daughter, Debi, emailed me on her mom's passing. She had pulled through so much and I hoped and prayed that she would also pull out of this terrible infection.
Diane and I had been good buddies since our family first moved to Mill Valley back in the 1940's when Diane and I were about five years old. The Gooch family was always such an important part of our lives and are much loved by our family. Diane and I were in many classes together at Park Elementary School in Mill Valley and at MC I was always in awe of Diane - so nice, smart, pretty, popular! Wow! Always such a great friend to have. I remember attending her wedding in Sonoma and how beautiful she was that day, as always. We then sort of lost touch except during times of loss, such as those of our parents. Our families were always together in spirit through the years, though, and kept in touch at holidays and birthdays.
Diane and I really got back more in touch when we had a tiny Mill Valley Reunion of the "girls" back from our days in Brownies and Girl Scouts in Mill Valley. That was in 2008.Only six of us came to my home in Lincoln for a fun day of nostaglia. The "oldies" were Diane, Jenny Siebert, and myself. The :"youngsters" (by a year or two) were Sandy Gooch, Barb Morgan, and Linda Graver, these three going to places like Mt. Angel's in Oregon for school so not part of the MC group. After that we all decided to not let forty or more more years escape us again without getting together!
After that Diane was really "after" me via email to get on Facebook and connect with this wonderful website and get ready for the reunion! She was so excited about it all and did so much work on it. I am not good at technology so she "walked" me through how to do it and what an experience she and the others involved created for the rest of us! I am so thankful to her for being such a driving force in getting our wonderful reunion together and was so sad that she couldn't attend. So very happy that Antone, Petite, Colleen, and Mike were able to meet with my husband and myself to bring the reunion to Diane. We were able to get a private room for the afternoon and Antone really did it up right by bringing ALL of the reunion things to share with Diane.We shared snacks, conversation, and all the great visuals set up all around the room. We had hoped to return and finish the "show" some day, but that was not to be. Diane really did enjoy seeing all the items and it was a heart-warming experience for all of us.
I was lucky enough to be able to have several visits with Diane in the Rehab Hospital and we were able to have some good laughs and share things from "back in the day". I was always so impressed as how much she was able to keep up her spirits that she would soon be out of rehab and back living her life as she wanted. She really wanted to buy a new car! She kept up a grand sense of humor and the two of us would sit on her bed and have some good laughs over our state as "old ladies". Believe me, not easy as she really was dealing with such horrible physical limitations yet kept right on trying.
Our last visit was really a wonderful memory now. It was probably 6 weeks ago and Diane was looking much improved. She was perkier and had even gained some weight. We even discussed possible "escape plans" for her and had a laugh over that. She had requested a pastrami sandwich and did she ever enjoy it. I will always remember the joy she got from the very simple things in life. She loved the Fanta orange drink and her potato chips! One visit we sat on her bad and ate Oreo's! I left that last day so excited about her progress and then two days later received that email that she had taken another fall and broken her hip so was back in the hospital for surgery. Just sure didn't seem fair!!
I am so happy that her sister, Sandy, was able to be with her in her last days and that her 3 lovely children were there with her to have some final time together. She is the oldest of seven children and will so very missed by so many. She was a talented, lovely, beautiful person and I feel very fortunate to have had Diane as a part of my life. May she rest in peace. I love you Diane and will always treasure our friendship and the many, many fond memories of our times together over all these many years.
Diane, you are probably shaking your head at me now...do I sign this or does the computer know it is from me??? Well, my friend, I'll sign "just in case".
Carole Nannery Chicoine
Luisa Miranda (Sofaer)
I will always remmber Diane's incredibly lovely smile and was looking forward to seeing her at the reunion but heard she was not well enough to attend. Bits and pieces of news about her failing health was disturbing, but there was always the hope she would rally and improve. It seems such a cliche to say, "Well, she's in a better place and no longer in pain. . . ." but at the end of the day, it is what we hope for her.
I fear we are approaching the age when we will see more of these sad announcements, so I do hope we can have another reunion (on a less epic scale as our 50th) before more of us are added to the In Memory. . .
I raise a toast to you Dianne - not so much to mourn your passing, but to celebrate your life.
Luisa Miranda Sofaer
Antone Sousa
From Sue Danford via email:
I am so sad about Diane. I had not seen her since graduation but she was close to me because we share the same birthday.We were friends as little girls in Mill Valley. They lived in an apartment over Russell and Gooch Mortuary. I was visiting one day and her Mom took us down stairs with her. I asked who lived there and she said guests. After that when anyone died my Dad said they went to be guests at Russell and Gooch. When we turned 16 my family through a luau for all the girls in our class to celebrate. It was much fun. We are at a place where we are loosing too many to soon and it makes me think about my life and what i'm doing. I do feel very sad this morning because another bit of past has slipped away, I hope to a much better place. With prayers and love, Susan
David Fitzharris
Wow. I came back from a transatlantic cruise to find this bad news in my inbox. I am stunned.
I always considered Diane a friend, despite the fact our social circles in high school didn't usually overlap. We became much closer when she enlisted me as a co-planner of last year's reunion. Among the four of us, Antone, Diane, Jo and myself, there were times when one of us would drop out of the picture and the rest would carry on. That also happened with Diane and many attempts were made to get in touch with her by phone and by email, to no avail. At the time, we didn't know what had happened to her: that she had taken a fall and hadn't been found for a couple of days. Since then, she never came out of rehab and remained incommunicado.
As most of you know, Diane was in a great deal of pain for several years. I think the reunion was a very important way she could get her mind off her condition and focus on a positive goal. It was a privilege to work with her. I never had an opportunity to see her face to face since high school, but we talked on the phone and emailed many times. I will truly miss her.
Thank you, Carole, for sharing your stories about Diane and being such a good friend. And thanks to those who cheered up her with the reunion memories.
Rest In Peace, Diane
Dave