DIANE HELEN (CHASNEY) NEUSTAEDTER (published on July 04, 2009)
| DIANE HELEN (CHASNEY) NEUSTAEDTER Diane passed away in her home in Byron, Georgia, on July 1, 2009, at age 67. Born in Winnipeg, Diane was the daughter of Stanley and Angela Chasney and a graduate of the University of Manitoba. She was predeceased by her husband Nicholas Neustaedter, her parents, her brothers Casmer and Stan, sister-in-law Carolyn Chasney, her aunt and uncle Helen and William Chasney, niece Karen Neustaedter. Diane will be lovingly remembered by her many friends in Georgia and her dear traveling companions Verlene Dvoracek and Diane Nordeng of Fargo, N.D., and by her family: Dorothy Chasney, nephew Russell; nieces Linda, Veronica and Karen; cousins Joan and Doug Johnston and Bill Chasney; lifetime friends Ann, Bob and Elizabeth Briskie; Paul and Marlene Neustaedter, their son Carl, wife Louisa and family; Anna and Jakob Fast, John van Kampen and family; Peter and Irene von Kampen and family. Following their marriage in 1965, Nick and Diane moved to Grand Forks, N.D., for further study, then to Fargo, where Nick taught at the university and Diane served as a librarian for Fargo schools. Following a year of travel in 1975 they settled in Georgia and built a home in Byron. Diane worked with various accounting firms and retired not long before her recent illness. In recent years Diane's love of travel took her to Spain, Korea, China and Africa. In 2008, she went to Tanzania with a group of teachers on a trip that would change her life. The group, known as the Friends of Tanzanian Orphans, raises money for school supplies and scholarships for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. A dormitory for the orphans is to be built in her honour and named Diane Wagodi, which is Swahili for Diane of God. At home, she was a devoted member of the High Street Unitarian Universalist Church in Macon, Georgia, where she served as treasurer and on the board of trustees. A memorial service will be held at the High St. Church on Friday, July 10. Her ashes will be interred in Winnipeg at a later date. The family in Canada wishes to thank Diane's friends in Georgia for their loving support and care throughout her illness. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to her favoured charities: The Dorobo Fund for Tanzania, with Diane in the memo line, care of Friends of Tanzanian Orphans, 1173 Lakeside Drive, Felton, CA, USA 95018; High St. Church, P.O. Box 4566, Macon, GA, USA 31208. |
|
