Diane Linda Mahmoud (née Loots)

Diane Linda Mahmoud (née Loots) of Fairfax County, Virginia (formerly of Marin County, California) suffered a debilitating stroke on February 21, 2022, while living in Canberra, Australia. For several months she engaged daily in rehabilitation therapy, fighting valiantly to regain her ability to speak and walk again. She passed away peacefully on July 27, 2022, at home in Canberra surrounded by her family. Diane is survived by her husband Ali, her daughter Sara, her son-in-law Charles, her granddaughters Eva and Serena, and her siblings Sharon (Jim) Thurlow of Pequot Lakes, MN, Alan (Susan) Loots of Clive, IA, and Steve (Jan) Loots of West Des Moines, IA. Her granddaughter Leila preceded her in death.

Diane was born March 8, 1942, in Omaha, Nebraska to Roger and Maureen (Bohnsack) Loots. She grew up in Carroll, Iowa, experiencing first-hand the “Happy Days” of the 1950s – swing dances on jukebox Saturday nights, Green Rivers and lots of root beer floats (on roller skates while working at an A&W drive-in), family gathered round the evening radio, and duck-and-cover drills in case of an atomic attack. Diane’s youth included weekly visits and sleepovers at the home of her grandmother’s, Anna (Hansen) Bohnsack whom she loved dearly.

Diane was an accomplished pianist from a young age, performing in her father’s dance band, The Roger Loots Orchestra, at events for the Order of the Rainbow for Girls, and numerous recitals. Diane was a talented vocalist and actor in numerous school concerts and plays. She also received the junior high history medal. For all that she didn’t understand the social media phenomenon, her accomplishments and activities are mentioned more than 100 times in the Carroll Daily Times Herald.

Perhaps it was her passion for history or just the confines of growing up in a small town that spurred Diane to venture far beyond the Hawkeye state. Make no mistake though, her affection for her native Iowa compelled her to single-handedly educate every American and foreigner she encountered on the finer points of Iowan culture and history. While she scorned the ignorance of those who assumed she was a “farm girl,” she proudly declared her love for the sights and smells of an Iowa summer filled with sweet corn, home-grown tomatoes, and the state fair.

Diane graduated in 1964 from Drake University (Des Moines, Iowa) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in drama (i.e., theatre). After obtaining her teaching certificate, in 1965, Diane took her first bold and independent move, leaving Iowa for an English teaching position in California at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, Orange County. As a sheltered young woman, Diane’s observations of 1960s ‘free love’ shocked her. But it was her front-row seat to the inequality of the public education system experienced by her Mexican-American students that opened her eyes to injustice and left a lasting impression. Even her love for Hollywood big pictures and movie stars, and the allure of a southern California lifestyle couldn’t keep her there for long.

Not long after returning to Iowa to teach, Diane’s life-changing moment was a random encounter in the Iowa State University (ISU) student union in 1967. A Ph.D. graduate student from a country in Africa she had barely heard of – Sudan – politely asked for her phone number. Within a week she was on a date with Ali who hailed from Sudan’s second largest city of Wad Medani situated on the Blue Nile. Ali’s first date jitters caused him to lock the keys in the car and by the third date he asked Diane to marry him. Initially finding his demeanor somewhat comical and strange but also endearing, she continued to date him for two years before their wedding in August 1969. While Ali completed his Ph.D. in agricultural engineering, they lived in married student housing in Ames. For the past 53 years of their marriage, ISU and the town of Ames continued to hold a special place in Diane’s heart as did the lifelong bonds built with Ali’s professors and classmates.

After Ali was awarded his Ph.D. in 1972, Diane joined Ali in moving to Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan. Her first overseas experience was fraught with mayhem and terror as only blocks from her new home on March 1, 1973, the Black September Organization attacked a Saudi reception being held in the honor of the outgoing U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) George Curtis Moore. Both DCM Moore and the newly arrived U.S. Ambassador Cleo Allen Noel Jr. were taken hostage and among those murdered. Etched in her memory forever, Diane often described the gunshots she heard on that eerie night, while she trembled in the dark (as the power was cut) and a violent haboob [dust storm] raged outside. In the wake of the assassination of the diplomats and an American community traumatized by the tragedy, Diane continued to hold the temporary, but difficult role of principal of the Khartoum American School (KAS).

The following year brought much joy to Diane and Ali with the arrival of their only child Sara. After a year hiatus, Diane resumed teaching secondary-level English at KAS. All these years she fondly remembered her international students.

The challenges of acclimating to a new life in Sudan did not deter Diane from exploring the world, but rather propelled her towards 50 more years of global adventures. While maintaining homes in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Virginia, Diane accompanied Ali on his business pursuits in Africa, Asia, and Europe – equally relishing and complaining of his “nomadic lifestyle.” From the 1980s to the 1990s, she lived the typical expatriate life in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Tangiers, Morocco; London, United Kingdom; and Kuwait City, Kuwait. In recent years, she also accompanied her daughter and son-in-law to their American diplomatic posts in Abu Dhabi, UAE; Vienna, Austria; and Canberra, Australia.

Before her 80th birthday, Diane traveled to 50 nations and traversed every continent (except for Antarctica, but she did meet southern hemisphere penguins on Australia’s Phillip Island!). Over the years, her love of theater compelled her (and of course her family) to see dozens of West End plays and musicals, several of them multiple times. She also enjoyed numerous classical concerts in Jeddah, London and Vienna, and performances at Wolf Trap in Virginia, as well as at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Some of Diane’s most cherished family memories as a child and an adult included cross-country road trips through America. She also had wonderful memories of going on safari in Kenya, traveling by rail on India’s Palace on Wheels, cruising down the Nile River, exploring regions of France, accompanying her mother and siblings on a cruise to Alaska, and showing her granddaughters her favorite spots from Hawaii to Greece.

Diane’s desire to meet people and learn about their circumstances and cultures shaped her entire outlook on life. She never shied away from an opportunity to engage with people. Treasured moments included time spent with relatives and friends in Sudan, with the Maasai tribe in Kenya, Egyptian kids in the carpet training schools of Saqqara, and members of the international women’s groups in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi.

She may not have always realized it, but throughout her life Diane’s actions and her big heart broke down barriers – big and small. She was a trailblazer – forging an interracial, interfaith, and transnational relationship in the same year that Sidney Poitier starred in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and the U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia struck down state laws prohibiting interracial marriage. No matter whom she was speaking to–an impoverished child in the streets of Fez, Morocco, a shopkeeper in Mumbai or Muscat, or a U.S. or foreign Ambassador–she always took a genuine interest in their lives and humbly shared her own unique life experiences.

Her lasting legacy inspires her daughter and grandchildren to continue in her footsteps walking boldly – exploring the wonders of this earth and learning from the amazing people and vibrant cultures that grace it.