Dear Dianne, Sig,
I knew them from my association with Rohm and Haas until I retired in 1984. Both fun loving, warm and generous.  I am so glad they shared this long and beautiful life together.  
May they rest well together for all eternity.  


The memories I would like to share with all of you about Dianne, is about her heart!

She was pretty quiet compared to the rest of our family, but behind that quietness, was a wonderful sister-in-law, who had a big heart that was loving and caring.  

Liz talked about her love for animals, especially her dogs and cats.  Yes, she spent hours feeding the birds and squirrels in her garden, a loaf of bread at a time at least for the ducks and geese, but did you know she also fed coyotes?  She figured she needed to keep them full, so they wouldn’t want Punkin and Jakey for dinner!  And the birds?  You know how aggressive starlings are – not thought of fondly in the birding world, and actually my least favorite bird – well, when they broke through the screen inside the attic, and nested there – they weren’t thrown out.  Instead, she had Sig put up some walls around their nest so they would be enclosed and safe, and could come back year after year, which they do.  A starling family is there now!  Dianne had a big heart - loving and caring for her animal friends.

Her decorating skills included crafts of all kinds.  Every niece or nephew born, before she became ill, got a homemade blanket.  Each Christmas, we would get some small homemade gift made with her hands.  I still use a Christmas basket decorated in Christmas fabrics for all our holiday cards.  When I wanted quilts made from my 3 daughter’s old volleyball shirts, she volunteered to quilt them, and had it done easily in time for me to gift to them at Christmas.  The dogs at the animal shelter also got gifts of new, homemade blankets, and old sheets and towels to make them more comfortable, along with pounds and pounds of dog and cat food.  In the Fellowship Hall, you can see a wishing well that she made out of wood – all by herself – that was sitting on her deck.  We never knew she made it until Monika came across some pictures showing that.  Dianne had a big heart - sharing her talent with crafts for family and friends.

When Mom was still alive and working at Zarephath kitchen every Thursday, Dianne joined her in serving food to the homeless.  Just this past Wednesday, Joan Rittel told me that she came to work each week with a freshly baked bundt cake – so the homeless would have homemade cake for dessert after their meal.  After Mom died and Dianne got a real job and stopped coming, she continued to send bundt cakes with Sig to the kitchen, and Joan says every time she makes a bundt cake now, she thinks of Dianne.  Thanks, Joan for that memory.  She always responded when asked to donate to any worthy cause.  Dianne had a big heart - sharing food and time with the hungry and homeless.

There were so many ways her heart touched people’s lives.  But most of all, as you have heard, her heart was biggest of all for Sig.   Where one was, there was the other.  It was never just Sig, or just Dianne – it was always Sig and Dianne.  They were a couple- always together- if one couldn’t make it, not likely the other would come either.  So these last 19 weeks seemed strange at times, seeing her, but not Sig – yet still somehow expecting him to walk in the door.  In some selfish way, we wanted her to keep on fighting her cancer, not only because we loved her, but also because she was the living connection to our brother, and now, with her passing, their absence seems so final.  The hole in our hearts which was big when Sig died is now just enormous.  She may have lost the battle of cancer, but she won the war – just as Sig won his Amazing Race, for she is now where she has wanted to be - forever by his side.

We treasure the video of her last family time with us at our July 4th picnic, and we also treasure this: (a valentine card found with a message from Sig)
It is Sig saying to Dianne – “Hi darlin, I love you.  Happy Valentines Day, Big Sig”.  It’s a Valentine memory of their love which they shared here on earth – big hearts now beating as one for all eternity.

Here is the Eulogy I gave at her Memorial Service for those who were unable to attend. We miss you sweet Dianne.

I really did not get to know Dianne well until she and Sig moved up here from California.  I did know when I met her that she was very pretty and that she and Sig were very much in love.  He told me that the first time Rex and I met her at a dinner in Oakland, CA.  When she left the table for a few minutes he told us that this was the girl he was  going to marry.  And sure enough not too long after that they were married.  It didn't take long after moving up here before Dianne's four loves became very obvious to all of us.
1.  Sig was her first love.  He came first and foremost from the
beginning until the end.  It was so obvious to all who knew them.  She would send him love letters when he was on the road for business.
2.  Dianne loved animals.  She spent much time and effort to make sure that her 2 dogs had everything they needed.  When they became ill she nursed them through severe medical issues. They lived relatively long and good lives thanks to her endless patience and love.  Dianne was really a dog person, but after the loss of her KT, she didn't want the heartbreak of losing another pet.  Sig on the other hand had been a cat person all his life, and an abandoned cat soon wormed its way into their lives. An orange gentleman named Punkin won them both over.  Talk about spoiled, Dianne would warm up his cat food in the microwave so it was just the right temperature.  Soon Punkin brought home a new friend who was also in desperate need of
a home.  Jakie entered their lives.  Dianne doted on these two cats just as she had her dogs.  She also spent hours feeding the birds and squirrels in her garden.  They will all miss her very much as they relied on her loving care.
3.  Third on her list of loves was her garden.  Gardening brought
Dianne joy on a daily basis.   Weeds didn't stand a chance in her
garden.  She planned it out so that it was bird and butterfly friendly, and absolutely beautiful.  A joy to the eye, ear and nose.  Sitting in her garden brought peace to all who were lucky enough to spend some time there.
4.  Fourth and finally on her loves list was her home, which had both class and style.  She would decorate it inside and out based on the four seasons of the year.  I can't tell you how many seasonal items she had stored in her attic.  Redecorating happened on a fairly regular basis, and the result was always beautiful. She kept Sig pretty busy with the changes.  You could drop in at any time and her home was "House Beautiful" perfect, and she always had a cup of coffee and a snack at the ready for her company.
The final thing we learned about Dianne this past year has been the most important.  She had an amazing inner strength and courage when it came to her cancer.  She fought it with a vengeance for over a year.  She took her radiation and chemo treatments with a quiet grace and a smile. She would hug all the other cancer patients in the waiting room and ask how they were doing.  After Christmas however, she was ready to give up as she had been fighting this for so long.  Sig on the other hand, was determined that she was going to get better.  He searched the internet for any new treatment that might give her a little more time or a cure.  The day in February she found out that her beloved Sig had stage 4 cancer, is the day her determination and strength returned.  It was now her turn to take care of him. She rallied and took care of him with everything she could
muster.  She cooked for him, trying to find something he would eat, even though it was difficult for her because of her own cancer.  She helped him with his medical treatments and stayed by his side at all times for the all too short six weeks of his illness.  On the day he died a big piece of her died too.
Now they are together again with all the other saints in God's loving arms.  She is at peace, and I can hear Sig now, saying to her when they were once again together  "Hi darlin, I've missed you".

Dianne we miss you. It is so sad.
But we know you are now reunited with Sig.

Juergen und Irene Voellm, Ludwigsburg/Deutschland

Dianne,
Our prayers have been with you.  We will miss you.

Dianne was a beautiful, fun-loving lady...we sincerely hope and pray that many warm memories will help ease the pain and sorrow of her passing as well as being reunited with Sig again.  Our condolences to Everyone in the Voellm Family.

Offering our deepest condolences during this difficult time.


To my Aunt Dianne and Uncle Sig,
I love you both. You will always be in my memories and my heart.

I didnt know Dianne but have love in my heart for her, she was part of my family for I love Bette and Lee and love their family like my own, they have touched my heart and I only wish I was blessed to have met Dianne in person, I know from all I read and see she will be missed very much,Want to send out love to her close loving family, We here are praying for her peace and rest! Dianna, Chris and Tristan!

My Dear sister Dianne, May you be at peace and without pain now. As your only sibling and older brother I do wish I could have seen you one last ime before you passed. But when I do pass to the other side, we will see each other again. I love you, Gene.

Dianne,
My heart-felt prayers have gone out for you as you fought the good fight, confronting your illness.  But our Lord chose to take you Home to be with Him and your dear husband, Sig.  I look forward to that Great Reunion, where we'll all be together again.  I know your Uncle Ken is there waiting too.  You have been a blessing.

July 29, 2010

Dianne, you lost the fight. Now you have been redeemed, you can look forward to join Sig.
Rest together in love and peace.

Ursula and Rainer Voellm, Asperg/Germany

We are very sad about the death of Dianne and Sig and that the Lord took them away so early. Now they are hopefully united and together in peace.

Each life touches this world and leaves imprints on the hearts of others. You were loved and will be missed.  We are glad your pain is relieved at last.

To our Loving Daughter, may being united with Sigurd again bring happeness and peace to both.  We love you, miss you, are in our thoughts every moment of every day.  Others who touched your life have memories, Mother and I have your life memories to sustain us until we meet again on the other side.

My dear friend of 30 years...Dianne, you and Sig lived and loved by example.  You are so very dear to us.  I remember the day we met, sitting on baseball bleachers watching the "boys of summer" play ball in their "blue" uniforms (no not the Dodgers, the Alouette's)  I think we were best friends the moment I sat, as a stranger, beside you.  Our guys rounded the bases and we bonded.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined you would encounter a battle against brain cancer.  We cried, we cursed, we laughed a little, too.  And then, you fought.  And, Sweetie, you fought hard,  and I am so very proud of you, of your fight and how brave you were.  Even in sickness you continued to teach me things.  Words cannot express what you mean to our family.  Such a softie...always there to speak for the underdog...what a beautiful person.   Please stay with us in spirit as we need you and what you lived and stood for.  
     We were the lucky ones, Dianne, for having known you!  Hugs & kisses to you and Sig!

Gone to the place with no more illness, no more pain, no more sadness...where our Lord and your adoring husband have their arms waiting open for you.  Thank you for adding cheer to our lives.

She is at peace now and able to be with Sig.  I am thinking of all of you!
Rose Lefebvre

Dianne, You fought hard and now you are with the Lord and the love of your life.

We love you!!!We will miss that smiling perky person who was such a large part of our loves.

Carl and Monika

OBITUARY

Mrs. Shirlee Dianne Voellm

2 December, 1950 – 25 July, 2010

Bateman Carroll Funeral Home

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