Dianne Schmidt Lips

Dianne Schmidt Lips of Falls Church, Virginia, passed away peacefully on January 23rd, at the age of 78, at home surrounded by her family. She was a beloved daughter, wife, mother, sister, aunt, and grandmother.

Dianne was born to Joseph and Eileen Schmidt on June 18, 1947, in Wilmington, Delaware. She was predeceased by three brothers (Steve, Bob, and Jeff). Dianne excelled in the classroom and was a leader in high school, serving in student government and as a cheerleader. She spent summers scooping ice cream at her father’s Silverside Dairy.

Dianne met the love of her life, Peter D. Lips, in the sixth grade. They began dating on the day after high school graduation. Dianne was the first woman in her family to attend college in Washington, DC, but she chose to return home to Wilmington to work and be closer to Pete at Princeton. They married on June 7, 1969.

Dianne’s calling in life was to be a wife, mother, and grandmother. She was married to Pete for 54 years before his passing in 2023. She is survived by her three children and their spouses–Brad and Stephanie Lips, Carrie and Aaron Lukas, and Dan and Karin Lips–as well as thirteen grandchildren: Andrew, Emma, Morgan, and PD; Molly, Meredith, Finn, Maggie, and Max; and JD, Johnny, Jake, and Jaclyn Dianne. She was looking forward to welcoming her fourteenth grandchild in the spring.

Dianne and Pete lived in Virginia and Illinois before settling in Weston, Connecticut, in the 1980s. Dianne was an active volunteer in the community. She led the Weston Senior Center that hosted gatherings for senior citizens and established the College and Career Center at the local public high school. She was a frequent classroom volunteer and never missed her children’s athletic competitions. Her kids agree that she was the “secret sauce” behind any academic success that they achieved in school. In 2000, Dianne and Pete relocated to Virginia to be closer to their adult children. Dianne worked for nearly a decade at Accontink Academy, a school serving children with special needs. Pete and Dianne built a close circle of friends in Cross Junction, Virginia, where they lived from 2005 to 2023.

Dianne was a pillar of strength for her family and friends. Friends and family took inspiration from Dianne's strength and the grace with which she confronted challenges. She helped her husband thrive for three decades after battling esophageal cancer in the 1990s and lived joyfully for more than a decade after her own multiple myeloma diagnosis.

To her grandchildren, Dianne will always be their beloved Mema. She maintained an impeccable home, full of toys, sweets, and fun activities for kids. She took grandchildren for overnights, even for days at a time. Her grandchildren will remember tea parties, animal parades, stomp rockets, puzzles, toy guys, a bottomless chest of dress up clothes, and Star Wars toys. Even after suffering back pain, Mema was always the first on the floor to play with a grandchild. They will remember days spent playing in her backyard alongside Lake Holiday; or listening to her read aloud books like Stickman and A Fly Went By. She was a wonderful cook who took particular joy in involving children in the process of preparing (and devouring) cheese plates under the gazebo, making elaborate dinners, and then lighting candles and setting the dining room table. She recently created a family cookbook to pass on to her grandchildren.

After Pete’s death in 2023, Dianne enjoyed a final chapter of life in Falls Church living with Brad and Steph and their children. Here, she enjoyed visits with grandchildren every Sunday; became a math tutor to PD; and cheered the Cubs and Bears alongside family. Always a great gardener, she found peace among Steph’s flowers in their garden, especially when kids bounced nearby in the trampoline and splashed in the pool. Dianne celebrated Christmas 2025 with all of her grandchildren.

Dianne was a beautiful person who will be remembered by her family as an enduring source of love, faith, wisdom, support, and friendship. Her family will honor her memory by following her example and carrying on the family traditions she held dear.

In lieu of flowers, her family suggests making a donation to a cause or charity of your choice in her memory.

Dianne’s family invites you to attend her funeral at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church on Friday, February 13, 2026, at 1:00 PM.