She was born on Grovner St in Athens, Ohio, on October 13, 1939. She moved to Columbus Ohio with her parents and lived for a while on  Mound St. then on N. Warren Ave. Mom & dad bought a house at 57 S. Eureka. It’s in the first block, second from the first alley. The house had just 2 bedrooms. There was a front porch, a back porch, and a garage. There was a rain barrel in the SE corner of the back yard. Mrs Marshall lived next door & rinsed her hair in the rain water!

When she was just 4 1/2 years old, she became my big sister! 😀 When she was 6 1/2, & I was 22 months old, we both became big sisters to Michael David! 😀😀When Mike & I left crib sleeping, Diane & I slept in a double bed, she on my left, I on her right. Mike slept alone also in a double bed, in the L shape of the bedroom. She read poetry to me at night. I recall only two titles, The Lady of Shallot (with her mirrors) & The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (with his albatross), but there were many poems.

Before falling off to sleep, we would many times talk & giggle loud enough to be heard down stairs! Mom would come to the bottom of the steps & loudly smack her yardstick on a step & call to us to settle down & go to sleep! I learned years later that when grandma Porter visited, she would break Mom’s yardsticks!😀 Diane recently confirmed to me that mom & grandma Porter had a difficult relationship.

Diane taught me many fun things, to name a few, rollerskating, “Mother, May I“, hopscotch, hide the thimble, jump rope, not to be scared of big dogs! (by her example!) “Which closed hand has the stone?”(Players [except the hider] sit on the bottom step, if you guess correctly, you move up one step. When you reach the top step, you become the hider of the stone!).

Rollerskating was tricky, it was done on the concrete in front of Hoge Memorial Church (on Eureka). Rollerskates have seen big improvements since then! Our skates were probably steel, expandable in length, (requiring experience & a skate key) & expandable in width to fit your shoe width! They were pretty hard to keep on. ☹️ There were (are) steel rails around the steps down to the Sunday school class rooms which I recall holding on to for dear life, while Diane skated by & on! She was good!!

Diane went to Highland Ave. Elementary School. She walked a short block to Broad St. then 4 blocks east to Highland Ave. & back at the end of her school day. Don’t know much about those years, except this story which was told to me. Diane was probably in 1st grade. There was some sort of Parent Night,  mom & dad went. They noticed other parents laughing as they went up & down the rows especially at a particular desk. When they arrived at that particular desk, it was Diane’s! Each student had a sample of their writing on their desk. Hers said, “I have a little sister she has a bed she has bedbugs in her bed.” (Maybe I did, but we slept in the same bed, ha ha.) 😀 She liked school & did very well!

Mom & Dad bought another house & moved us to S.Westgate Ave, down the street from Westgate Park, where we spent lots of time swinging high & sliding.

Diane went to West Junior & Senior High School along Olive St. to Harris Ave., four blocks east of our new home. She did so well in school that she was appointed Valedictorian of her senior high graduating class! Wish I could remember the title of her talk, I don’t. But within the address, she recited a poem called, The Bridge Builder, which in repeated practice at home (leading to the presentation) I learned the poem from her! She was so smart & made such good grades, that I had a strong feeling teachers were disappointed when I came along!

She was very adventurous! She went away to college, she did her junior college year in France, then returned to France to marry, she moved back to Ohio, she graduated from law school, she moved to California (I don’t know what all she did there, but I know she took many classes). Always growing & learning!

While in France, she purchased a beautiful pram (baby buggy). She loaned it to me soon after Erin was born! Both Erin & Emily slept & had Oswego rides in it! When it was time to return it, Diane pushed baby-bonneted Emily in the buggy, south on High St. from our home on Morning St. in Worthington to her place across from Graceland Shopping Center! We officially called it, “The last buggy ride”. We took lots of pictures! Diane wore her black & white striped long stockings! We were a sight!

Diane loved her children & their partners, her grandchildren, her sibs, & friends, grammar, art, reading, cooking, sewing, fabric-yards & yards of fabric, her computer, collecting, shopping, dogs, plants, the Bible, red hair, the library’s foreign or not movies & pretty things.

Diane explored many religions. Though she seemed most satisfied, most comfortable with Jehovah's Witnesses. She was a good & true Witness for Jehovah! Indeed, Diane died believing that she & other good Witnesses would be resurrected in years to come.

I miss her!
Love, your Aunt Susie