Obituary
Diane Sue Wright, aged 74, died after a 3 ½ year battle with breast cancer, on June 7, 2022 at the Villages, FL.
Diane is survived by her husband, Tom; her daughter, Jennifer Payne, her husband, Bill, and their daughters, Lauren and Ashley of Edmonds, Washington; her son Christopher Wright, his wife, Kimberly, and their children, Tristan and Taylor of Newport Beach, California; and her brother Larry Taylor and his wife, Jan, of Clarion, Iowa.
Diane was born in Clarion, Iowa and brought up on the family farm, learning at an early age to drive a tractor, care for the animals and help with the crops. When she was very young, her family discovered she had been gifted with a beautiful singing voice and she began performing for groups by six years of age. Her voice led her to Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice Performance. It was there she met her husband, Tom.
Upon her marriage, she moved with Tom to the Washington, DC area, where Tom was beginning his second year of dental school. Their daughter, Jennifer was born during his senior year. Upon graduation, Tom was commissioned into the Navy, where, during his 28 years of service, they moved to a variety of duty stations, both in the U.S. and overseas, including Bermuda where Chris was born.
During Tom’s career, Diane took a job with Navy Federal Credit Union, and she was able to continue with them until her retirement after 23 years, as the manager of the branch onboard the Naval Station, Mayport, FL. During that time she embarked on a path to achieve her masters via night school, receiving her MBA from the University of North Florida.
Diane pursued her passion for music by directing a myriad of choirs and choral groups, and singing in local and semi-professional theater groups. When they moved to the Villages, they joined Community United Methodist Church, in Fruitland Park, where she eventually became the Minister of Traditional Worship, a position she held until just before her passing. She leaves behind a loving family and scores of friends whose lives she touched.
Her viewing will be held at the Baldwin Brothers facility, at 3990 E. SR 44, Wildwood, FL on June 14, 2022 from 5-7 pm. Her burial will be the following day at Bushnell National Cemetery at 10:15 am on June 15, 2022, with a memorial service to follow, that will be held at Community United Methodist Church, in Fruitland Park, FL at 1 pm; a reception will follow.
Her family would like to thank her church, family and friends for their love, support and devotion during her illness. They would also like to share their appreciation to the wonderful professionals at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, as well as the caring folks at Hospice who helped her so much in her last days.
The family requests that donations be made to cancer research, in lieu of flowers.
I am so glad I had the opportunity to sit at her bedside and talk and laugh with her just days before her passing. Diane is a beautiful spirit. She is with Jesus now!
In addition to all of that, she was a dear soulmate. Those of us in Joyful Sound became dear sisters. We all became so close with our love for each other. I have never known a bond like that before. Such wonderful times singing, laughing, crying, praying, grieving, hugging . . . loving!
And then there was Loving God Quartet. John and I loved that so much. I cannot tell you how much fun we had at rehearsals. We loved singing together so much and loved the music we were singing so much that we couldn’t stop grinning at each other!! I have a video of our favorite anthem if you would like to see it. Diane didn’t like to look at videos of her performances. She was too critical. But I think it is really good! What fun!!
We weren’t able to tell her how much we loved her before she died, but as I told Tom; we saw the love in HER eyes, and I know she saw the love in OUR eyes.
To say that Diane was AMAZING is an understatement. She was so brave and gracious; and to think that it was just a few short weeks ago that she was still directing and singing with us!! She missed the May 11th choir rehearsal, the May 12th God’s Echo and Loving God Quartet rehearsals, and was too ill to be at her “bucket list” Broadway Variety Show on May 13th. We could have canceled that show, but we all wanted to do it as a tribute to Diane. The audience absolutely LOVED it!!! Kudos, Diane!
Loving you, my dear friend . . . I find peace in picturing you being held in the loving arms of Jesus!
Penny
Condolences to the loving family she left behind. May the warm memories of her love and life bless you all.
My sympathy goes out to Tom and the family.
May GOD comfort the family during this difficult time.
Blessings,
CUMC Talent show 2016
Lee & Gretchen Snyder