Dianna McCaw

From the time Dianna was born during the Great Depression on April 12th, 1930, in the state of New York, she was destined to be a force of nature. As a child, she even dreamed of becoming a pilot. And she went on to pave her own way into adulthood, breaking the mold & setting trends everywhere she went.

Dianna was always sought after for her stunning beauty, great intelligence, & tenacity. “I tell it like it is,” she would always say. Such a jewel as she was, it followed that Dianna would be married. However, five children later, she became one of the first women to file for divorce in the state of New York - because any suitor would quickly find that Dianna was unshakeable & would not tolerate any form of disrespect. Because how does a man capture the wind? How does a man tame the sea? And how could anyone ever stop Dianna from doing anything that she set out to do?

After she became a single mother, Dianna made herself into a Jack-of-All-Trades, putting on different hats over the years as a seamstress, a bartender, a rental property manager for one of the most successful real estate owners on Long Island, & even a program director of a living facility for the mentally ill, just to name a few. She worked hard in order to support her five – and later on, six – children: Charlie, Elaine, Carolyn, Roy, George, & Roe.

Dianna would also still somehow find time in her busy schedule to do the things that she loved, including going out dancing, singing, crafting, & working in her garden. Her green thumb & penchant for animals earned her the nickname among friends & family, “Dianna of the Forest”.

In her 40s, Dianna returned to college, where her intelligence & skills gained her recognition by John D. Rockefeller, whom she met with bandages on her arms & hands due to an unfortunate meeting with poison ivy. In her even later years, she focused her retirement on gardening & spending time with & talking over the phone with her granddaughters, Annette & Shannon.

Throughout her life, Dianna would continue to defy all odds. She survived being mugged & literally stabbed in the back, a late-night fire that set her apartment complex ablaze, heart attacks & strokes, hit-and-run car accidents, & even colon cancer. Doctors estimated that Dianna would pass within months of having her surgery to remove the colon cancer at the ripe age of 92. But yet again, Dianna proved the world wrong & lived for another two years.

Dianna McCaw is survived by her four remaining children – Roy, George, Roe, & Carolyn – and her cat, Twinkles. She is also survived by her daughter-in-law, Linda, (Roy’s wife), who steadfastly took charge of Dianna’s care during the last years of her life, & whom Dianna considered her daughter also. After living a spectacular life, Dianna is finally getting her wish to be a pilot, flying above us in heaven.