Remembering the life of DIANE LYNN REED (2024)

DIANE LYNN REED
Christmas came early in 1945 for Ned and Mildred Miller in Miles City, Montana, when Diane Lynn arrived on the 12th of December. Because of her father's government work, the family moved often. She acquired most of her elementary education in Dallas, Texas. She graduated valedictorian from high school in Hopewell, Virginia, and used her accomplished academic skills to complete her degree in education from the College of William and Mary in just three years. While her father acted as the Associate Warden for the Federal Prison in Milan, Michigan, Diane lived with her parents and gained her first year of experience as an elementary teacher in a school nearby. Seeking greater adventure, she accepted a teaching position with the Department of Defense at Ramey Air Force Base and moved to Puerto Rico. In this tropical paradise, while attending master's degree courses in Guidance and Counseling, she met her husband, Joel Reed, who was flying B-52 strategic bombers from the island. They were married in a picturesque crimson hibiscus covered chapel on the base and honeymooned on Curacao to launch their 55-year partnership. They toured the island of Puerto Rico and lounged on the Caribbean beaches until Joel was reassigned to F-4 Phantom fighter training at Victorville, California. Upon completion of training, Joel endured a combat tour in Southeast Asia flying out of Thailand while Diane nervously waited in Atlanta, Georgia, with her parents for his return. She joined her husband in Asia for a short leave and visited many key landmarks around the Thai kingdom. The next Air Force assignment took this loving couple to the formerly war-tom island of Okinawa, where Joel continued flying the F-4 Phantom and Diane reactivated her teaching and guidance counselor skills in the base school. They reveled in several trips throughout the orient visiting fabled places such as Penang and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the island nation of Singapore, Manilla in the Philippines, and Hong Kong. The next assignment brought the couple to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas where Joel helped initiate a key training program for US and Allied forces using the nearby desert ranges. Diane returned to the classroom during this exciting and event-filled tour. The following adventure planted the pair in the crowded hustle of Seoul, Republic of Korea, while Joel accomplished complex staff work for the Combined Forces Command, UN Command, US Forces Command and Eighth US Army. To fill her time, Diane taught children of military personnel assigned to the Korean base, as well as some college level courses for American soldiers. After two freezing winters on the Korean peninsula, Joel and Diane returned to Las Vegas and his final active-duty assignment at Nellis Air Force Base as an intelligence officer. Diane was again drawn back into the classrooms of the Clark County School District, where she continued to mold the minds of Nevada's children. She continued in the classroom amassing over thirty years of dedicated contributions to teach the youth of America. After final retirement, Diane and her life-partner enjoyed cruises to Europe, highlighted by tours around her ancestral origin locales of Norway. Their last adventure took them on a sailing circuit around picturesque New Zealand. After an eventful and giving life filled with adventure, Diane succumbed to a rare cancer on April 23, 2024, at the age of 78. Left to cherish her memory are her husband, Joel Reed of over 55 years, who remains in Las Vegas, sister Judith Trojan and husband Randy of Temple, Texas, sister Nancy Kay Mellor and husband Gary Mellor of Pinehurst, Texas, nephews Ryan Hobbs and family of North Logan, Utah, Travis Hobbs and family of Pinehurst, Texas, nieces Jamie Trojan of Temple, Texas, Chylynn Carlisle, Sheena Thomas, sister-in-law Susan Carlisle and husband David of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She will be missed by countless friends and former students gathered from years of cooperative classroom associations. She truly lived a full and meaningful life while making vital contributions to society and our great nation.

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Published on May 19, 2024