A 50-year-long teaching career is a phenomenal achievement and “I never would have thought I would last this long”, Diane said on announcing her retirement, but she added, “I’ve loved every minute of it.”
Forty-one of those years were at the same school, Wines Elementary, that she went to as a 5th grader when it opened in 1957, and where she forged a multi-generational bond with the school and community as a teacher. As the Wines School principal, David DeYoung, himself a former student, said on the news of her retirement, “She knew each child by name, but also nearly every parent by name, plus grandparents, aunts, uncles, and caregivers. Everyone loved her.”
DeYoung called her “a force of nature” whose “tireless energy is the stuff of legend”. In addition to being a popular Phys Ed teacher, she was the head of the Wines safety patrol, and she started Wahl’s Walkers, a lunchtime mile-long walk two times a week for about 50 kids in grades 2 to 5, a tradition she plans to continue.
Bonnie Holzhauer Bean, also a former Phys Ed teacher, if not for 50 years, understands what it takes to be a great one and agrees with what Maggie House Conger said on hearing about Diane’s career, “Teaching PE for 50 years is unbelievable—and exhausting!”. Bonnie said, “You never stop moving” but that “it’s “very rewarding and fun.”
At AAHS, Diane was on the cheerleading squad and fellow cheerleader Sally Fawcett Peet said when she saw the picture of Diane in the articles posted about her retirement, “You look just like you did 55 years ago!”. That was echoed by several other classmates, including Dale Withers Peck who wrote, “Diane looks 18!”
Martha Gilson Phillips really summed it up in a Facebook tribute to Diane, “What a legacy you leave Ann Arbor public schools, touching so many lives”. One of “Diane’s kids” included Martha’s nephew, Alex Phillips, “who loved you!”
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