Diana Destine Sanderfer Denman

Diana Destine Sandefer was born on February 20, 1934, in Abilene, Texas. She was the only child of Gilbert Bryan Sandefer and Inez Woodward Sandefer. Diana’s grandfather, Jefferson Davis Sandefer, Sr. was the very popular and long-serving president of Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. Diana was proud of what she called her “deep roots” in Abilene.

A young Diana went away to boarding school initially at Holton Arms in Washington DC and then to Mt. Vernon Seminary. While there, she served as editor of the yearbook and competed in equestrian events, including shows in Boston and New York. After graduating, Diana made her debut in Washington DC where her coming out party included the entertainers Eddie Fisher and Julius La Rosa.

Diana then enrolled in George Washington University where she studied journalism and pledged Pi Phi sorority. She also continued equestrian and rodeo riding events. After graduating from college, Diana worked as a fashion model in Dallas, Texas for a year. She then returned to Washington DC and enrolled in Catholic University’s graduate school of theater arts. Although she was a good student, she took advantage of an offer to pursue an acting and modeling career in Hollywood. Given her riding skills, she was quickly cast in parts in Western movies and in TV advertising. Her first speaking role, as Diana Destine, was in the Cecil B. DeMille film The Buccaneer (1958) directed by Anthony Quinn and starring Yul Brenner and Claire Bloom. As she continued auditions, she met Ronald Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors Guild. She later recalled they only discussed Hollywood at the time but would cross paths later in political circles.

A former Miss New Mexico, Diana enjoyed greater success as a model in TV advertising. While filming a commercial for Rexall, she met Donald J. Dolen, an advertising executive with Young and Rubicam. Don was a handsome World War II Marine veteran of the Pacific theater who had studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York before going into advertising. They married and lived in Grosse Point, a fashionable suburb of Detroit where Don managed advertising accounts in the automobile industry. They had a beautiful life together and welcomed a daughter, Destine. Sadly, Don became ill and died in 1970 at the age of 43.

In 1972, Diana married Leroy G. Denman, Jr., a San Antonio attorney, businessman, rancher, and another World War II veteran. She always said she loved a man in uniform. Diana and Leroy enjoyed forty-three years of marriage before he passed in 2015. Fiercely devoted to each other, they worked together in ranching, wildlife conservation, historical preservation and philanthropy. Leroy also supported Diana’s passion for politics and public service which became her focus on her return to Texas.

Diana volunteered on Republican campaigns and organized fundraisers at a time when Texas was just beginning to become a two-party state. She quickly rose in leadership positions becoming Vice Chair of the Texas Republican Party (1983-1988). She lent her support to many rising Republican officials, but especially to her old friend Ronald Reagan. She served as delegate for Reagan to the Republican National Conventions in 1976, 1980 and 1984. President Reagan offered her a foreign posting, but unwilling to be separated from Leroy, she declined. She did however accept an appointment as co-chairman of the U.S. Peace Corps Advisory

Council (1982-1983) and later to the Board of the Institute of Museum Services (1986-1991). She also served as a U.S. election observer in Central American elections. As a tribute to the late president, she later founded the Reagan Legacy Forum which met for many years at The Argyle Club featuring prominent speakers from Diana’s world of politics, military, intelligence and journalism.

In recent years, she was instrumental in Ted Cruz’s successful run for the U.S. Senate in 2012, and was a delegate for him to the 2016 Republican National Convention. She supported Rick Perry for President in 2012. She fostered and mentored many young people seeking to run for office or wanting to become involved in Republican party activities. She served many years on the Board of Advisors for the Young Conservatives of Texas.

Intensely patriotic, over the past twenty years Diana focused much of her energy on military support, including helping hundreds of young men and women serving in uniform. She believed strongly in the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) based at Fort Benning, Georgia, which trains police and military personnel from other Western nations. She served on their Board of Visitors from 2005-2009. From 2006-2009, she served on the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS). She also served on the US Service Academy Nominations Board from 2013 2016.

Although she was active with military support at the national level, Diana also spent considerable time and effort with the local military. She led efforts to bring the many senior officers across all the Services together in social settings to—as she would often say—build bridges. Her annual Christmas Flag Officer Reception for all the Generals, Admirals, and influential community leaders in the San Antonio area was always a huge hit. But her real passion was helping young medical officers who were attending year-long training programs on Fort Sam Houston. Every year she would “adopt” two or three of these young lieutenants, mentoring them, assisting with financial aid if needed, and helping their families attend their graduation.

She also was always finding ways to assist young enlisted Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen anyway she could, to include bringing them to her home for Holidays and getting them out to discover all the great things to see in the San Antonio area. It was no surprise when she was unanimously selected by a board of military leaders to become a charter member of the Fort Sam Houston Distinguished Quartermasters (DQMs), a group honored for their selfless service to the military through their donations of time and effort.

Diana was a generous volunteer with Hillsdale College, the conservative Christian University in Hillsdale, Michigan. She was also active with the Center for Security Policy, a Washington-based think tank. Diana was an active member of the Mont Pelerin Society, an international intellectual group based at Texas Tech University. She loved to participate in their international gatherings amongst other supporters of free markets and free expression.

Diana especially enjoyed the Philadelphia Society, a group focused on deepening the intellectual foundations of a free and ordered society, and that exercised great influence in the modern conservative movement through men like Willian Buckley, Milton Friedman, and F.A. Hayek. In 2022, the Philadelphia Society presented Diana with the Baron Award, the organization’s highest award for a member who exemplifies the intellectual integrity and moral courage of the organization. Additionally, she served on the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institute, the famous public policy center at Stanford University, and the Board of Directors of the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington think tank focused on defense and national security policy.

Diana built and redecorated many homes over the years, but her final one was the Terrell Hills home she and Leroy bought and remodeled. She filled her home with incredible antiques she had gathered from around the world during her travels. She loved to entertain guests there, especially writers and thinkers for her salons, and military and veterans organizations. Her dedicated staff, Kristi, Lorna, Victor, and Alex, helped Diana with her entertainment and political activities through her final years. But her favorite houseguest was her Yorkshire Terrier, Arabella. Diana loved animals all her life.

Faith was important to Diana, and although she and Leroy attended the First Presbyterian Church together, she remained a devout Baptist all her life. When unable to attend services while on the road, she always found a Baptist broadcast service on television.

She never slowed down, remaining active in her endeavors until her passing. She worked long hours often sending emails or texts to people after midnight as she continued to work through her inbox, answer correspondence, return calls, write, think, and plan.

Diana is survived by her daughter, Destine Denman Holmgreen, of Laredo and two grandsons, Austin Corbett Holmgreen of Laredo and Travis Denman Holmgreen of San Antonio. She is survived by many loving cousins and friends, some of many decades.

Diana will be laid to rest in a private service in Abilene at Elmwood Memorial Cemetery amongst her family members.