Diana Lee Deely

Outspoken and independent, Diana Lee Deely, née Dismuke, was born to James and Elaine Dismuke on November 25, 1938 in Phoenix, Arizona. An only child, Diana was curious, independent and self-motivated - characteristics that would describe her throughout her long life.

EARLY YEARS

As a four year old during World War II, Diana accompanied her mother to Red Cross events at the Union Station to provide refreshments and boost morale for the troops passing through Phoenix on their way to the Pacific Theater. Never one to avoid the spotlight, Diana soon made her stage debut and took part in a variety of theatrical activities with the urging of her mother. She sang, danced, and acted beginning at an early age. It was said that she was even approached for a Hollywood screen test, in the mold of a Shirley Temple type-star. Ultimately, she remained in Phoenix and performed locally, regularly taking part in Phoenix Little Theatre, the Phoenix Light Opera, among many other productions. She performed for the students of The Phoenix Indian School, and for famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in his home theater at Taliesin West.

Diana recounted many happy memories playing with a wide circle of friends in her Cypress Street - Encanto neighborhood where her parents had built a home in 1932. She spent her younger years playing in flooded yards, joining in neighborhood games that stretched between properties, attending minor league baseball games with her Dad, and sleeping outside during warm months since there was no air conditioning. In the summer, the family would retreat to the cool environs of Prescott, where the Dismukes had a cabin. In 1947, Diana contracted polio, and was quarantined for several months at home, doing homework and listening to records. Diana never allowed her intelligence to be downplayed, and from an early age demonstrated the strong willpower that would become her defining characteristic. She skipped two grades at Kenilworth Elementary and graduated near the top of her class at age 16 from North High School, near her family’s new home on Country Club Drive.

Her father James Dismuke was for many years a banker with the Valley National Bank, rising from the role of teller in 1926 to the role of Vice President by the 1960s. Her mother Elaine was very vivacious, and the Dismukes’ social life was focused first around the Phoenix Country Club, and then later the Paradise Valley Country Club. The family would often visit with the Bimsons, the Babbitts, and other leading Phoenix families. Mature for her age, and an only child, Diana was often included in outings with her parents, and met celebrities of the era, such as Elizabeth Taylor and Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton in 1951, and Liberace, who gave a private piano concert in the home of the Bimsons when his television show first debuted on a local Phoenix station.

Diana's mother instilled in her a strong love of travel as they would leave the heat of Phoenix every summer. She and her mother would drive by car across the United States and Canada to visit extended family and see new places, logging thousands of miles. She visited 49 of the 50 states over her lifetime. After graduating from North High School in Phoenix in 1955 as a Parnassus and National Honor Society Scholar, she made the trip back east to begin life as a student at Bryn Mawr College outside of Philadelphia.

COLLEGE, TRAVELS ABROAD, AND WORK

In college, Diana immersed herself in the study of languages, both during the academic year and summer sessions at Middlebury College and Harvard University. She enjoyed learning German and French, but fell in love with Italian and Italian opera. It was at Bryn Mawr College that Diana became serious about studying music and Italian, two interests that she elected to pursue more in depth after graduation. Her college memories were filled with performances at neighboring Haverford College, where she played major roles in The Beggar's Opera, along with various other productions during the years 1956-1959.

Upon graduation in 1959, Diana set out for her next adventure, traveling across the sea by ocean liner to her new home in Italy, where she studied Italian Opera and language at the Istituto Donizetti in Bergamo, and the Conservatorio di Reggio Emilia Milano in Italy. She sang in the chorus at La Scala, and taught English to Italian engineers from Fiat in Milan. For vacations, she traveled with friends to Lago de Como in northern Italy, packed into a Fiat 500, which was “the most uncomfortable car,” in Diana’s opinion. She traveled throughout Europe mostly on her own, and would share fantastic stories such as taking the morning mail boat through the fjords in Norway and crossing the English Channel during a storm. Diana sailed back across the Atlantic for the summers of 1960, 1961, and 1962 so she could study and perform for the Royal Conservatory in Banff, Calgary, and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

After concluding her degree at Istituto Donizetti in Bergamo, Diana returned to North America for good, and continued her voice studies at The Boston Conservatory. Deciding that Boston wasn't where she wanted to stay, Diana was admitted to Julliard and moved to New York City to study voice there. While living at nearby International House, she made a dynamic and talented group of friends from throughout the world. During her time at Juilliard, she performed in the Metropolitan Opera chorus under the direction of Leonard Berstein at Lincoln Center. When her mother became ill back in Phoenix, she curtailed and then stopped performing altogether, putting her considerable skills into a corporate role with Shell Oil Company in New York, where she worked in the Personnel Department from 1965 to 1969.

MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN

It was here in Manhattan, during the ticker tape parade for returning Apollo 11 astronauts, that Diana was introduced to a friendly and handsome co-worker from Long Island named Richard Deely. Recognizing a mutual interest in music and history, she and Dick traveled to Tanglewood for a concert, and a wonderful relationship blossomed. The two were married in November 1970 at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Their marriage celebration included both a Catholic priest, and an Episcopalian bishop from nearby Saint Thomas for the first joint presiding at Saint Patrick’s. Once married, the two lived in the Lincoln Towers apartments, where the bride worked for Sullivan and Cromwell Law Firm, and the groom continued to work at Shell Oil. Diana had 6 children over 10 years, beginning with Richard William (1971), Jonathan (1972) who died an infant; James Jonathan (1973); Elaine Katherine (1976) Allison Elizabeth (1978) and Kathryn Meredith (1981).

Beginning in 1973, Dick and Diana moved their family from Manhattan to Chappaqua, New York where they raised their children. Trading her busy life of work and travel for parenthood, Diana saw all five of their children graduate from college. She instilled in them a love of music, theater, reading, history, and travel. She encouraged all her children to find something they were passionate about. They lived in Chappaqua until 2002, when Dick retired from his law practice and the two purchased a retirement home outside of Cave Creek, Arizona.

LATER YEARS

Throughout her life and travels, Diana was always at heart an Arizona girl. She loved her home state, and took great pleasure and pride in the natural, historical, and cultural attributes of Arizona. Both Dick and Diana had an idyllic retirement, with countless visits from grandchildren, nights of scrabble with friends, regular breakfasts or dinners out (always with a crossword puzzle in hand), and volunteering at the Desert Foothills Library. Having traveled widely, and experienced so much, Diana was content to enjoy watching the sun rise every morning from the porch of her Cave Creek home.

Diana passed away suddenly and peacefully on May 28th. She will be missed by so many. Independent, strong willed, and fiercely loyal, she was one of a kind.

She is survived by her husband Richard ‘Dick’ Deely; her son Richard Deely, his wife Amy Crow, and their children David and Sadie of Claremont, CA; son James Deely and his wife Anne, and their children Nathaniel, Benjamin, and Abraham of Deerfield, NH; daughter Elaine Heyde, her husband Damian, and their children Brianna, Meaghan, and Alexander of Yorktown, NY; daughter Allison Milanowski, her husband Michael, and their children Emily and Peter of Wadsworth, OH; daughter Kathryn Deely and her partner Taylor Bushell of Seal Harbor, ME. She is preceded in death by her mother Elaine Dismuke (née Copeland), her father James Dismuke, her infant son Jonathan Deely, and granddaughter Beatrice Lucia Milanowski.