Diane Kathleen Witt

Diane Witt passed away on September, 28, 2023 unexpectedly from complications during a medical procedure. She is survived by her son, Michael Hernandez and daughters, Leigh Burman and Meagan Rountree and her beloved grandchildren, Alexis, Zora, Olivia, Ashton and Gabriel.

Diane Witt was born in Gridley, California and grew up in the Bay Area. She attended school at UC Berkley. During this time, she entered VISTA, a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. This program is where she met her first husband, George Hernandez, and VISTA also brought them both to Colorado. Once in Colorado, she completed her Bachelors at CU Boulder. Together, George and Diane established themselves in Lafayette and had Michael and Leigh. Diane continued to live in the house they purchased together in 1978 until her passing in 2023, becoming an important and beloved member of her neighborhood and community. In her second marriage to Bruce Witt, Diane gave birth to her youngest daughter, Meagan. After 10 years, Bruce and Diane divorced. In the following years, Diane's life was full of love, laughter, travel and the arrival of her life's greatest treasures, her 5 grandchildren.

Diane taught at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Boulder before getting hired by Boulder Valley School District, where she remained a wonderful second grade teacher for many years, later transitioning to English as a Second Language teaching in small groups until her retirement in 2008. Her students and colleagues alike loved her for her constant drive for exploration and learning, and her way of caring for her most vulnerable students. Diane earned her Master's degree at CU Boulder, and continued teaching English as a Second Language with Sanchez Elementary in Lafayette. She teamed up with her dear friend and teaching partner, Corby Connolly to help some of the most at-risk children in our community thrive.

She was an invaluable member of the Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and leant her beautiful voice to the choir and One Voice group among other roles in service to her church community during her long tenure as a member.

Diane's incredible gift of kindness and compassion was far reaching and remains her legacy. In her honor, please, stand up against injustice. Speak your truth and speak truth to power. Vote. Be empathetic to others' pain and the parts of their journey that you cannot see. Hug your pets a lot. Be silly and be creative. Hug your friends a lot, too. And above all, be gentle to yourselves and to each other.

Please join us to celebrate Diane on Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 3PM at the Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 1241 Ceres Drive, Lafayette, CO 80026.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her name to your local humane society or library's literacy program.