Diane Claire Church

Diane Claire Church, eldest child of Albert and Claire Burnham, was born in Everett, WA, in 1940. She grew up near Ketchikan and later Sitka in southeast Alaska and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of Washington. Diane married David A. Church in 1963 and worked as a Registered Nurse at the Swedish Hospital in Seattle, WA, while bearing two children, Kirin and Aran. The family moved to Bonn, and later Mainz, Germany, in 1969. They returned to live in Tucson, AZ, and later Albany, CA, before moving to College Station, TX, in 1975.

Diane taught Sunday school at the First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, TX and was an early woman leader on the Board of Deacons. She was a swimming instructor for the City of College Station for a decade, delivered Meals on Wheels in the B/CS area, and was a member and chair of the B/CS Poetry Society. Desiring to use her nursing and education background for the benefit of the community, Diane was a Red Cross volunteer coordinating the Brazos Valley Rehabilitation Center services for over ten years as well as organizing the Red Cross Health Fair at Post Oak Mall. She volunteered for the College Station School District’s Safety City and was Communications Director for the Arrowmoon District of the Boy Scouts.

An enthusiastic enjoyer of music and nature, and traveler by air, cruise ship, and auto, she eventually visited many countries on six continents, and truck-trekked to National Parks, Monuments, and Wildlife Refuges in all 50 states. Diane loved reading and writing poetry, bird watching, attending opera performances, sewing, pottery, gardening, fine cooking and dining, woodworking – both fine furniture and outdoor architecture, photography, and making albums of her poetry and travel photos. In retirement, she enjoyed a mountain cabin by the National Forest in Cloudcroft, NM.

Diane is survived by loving family members: her husband David, her children and their family members Kirin and Behan Sparks, Aran Church and Alix Compton, as well as brother Mike, sisters Peggy and Suzanne, and their families. She will be buried in the Church family plot in Gorham, NH, one of her favorite localities while living. No local memorial service is planned.