It is with profound sadness that the family of Diana Churchill Rector announces her passing on January 30, 2022. Beloved daughter of Richard and Evelyn Churchill, Diana was born on September 17, 1942 at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Raised in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, she was a 1960 graduate of North Fulton High School and a 1964 graduate of Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina where she majored in Art.
Diana’s warmth, kindness, and generosity drew others to her and she enjoyed many lifelong friendships. She never spoke an unkind word, she was attentive to anyone who needed an ear. She was a treasure box to her friends. Diana was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. She was an intelligent, charming and elegant woman. Curious, organized and efficient, she spent many years working as the head librarian and researcher for the Washington, D.C. bureau of the Los Angeles Times. Diana pursued many hobbies, but above all she was a passionate gardener.
A longtime member of the Camellia Garden Club of Atlanta, Diana was its heart and soul. She joined in 1987, and served as President 5 times in her 35 years of membership. Her creativity and dedication to excellence was evident in all of her gardening projects. The vegetable gardening curriculum she created for first grade students introduced many under-privileged children to the joys of growing, harvesting and eating fresh produce.
Her favorite quote, from Ralph Waldo Emerson, encapsulates her life and spirit: “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
Diana is preceded in death by her beloved parents and her older brother Geoff Churchill. Diana is survived by her husband Schuyler Bennett Rector, son Randall Lee Moore, daughter Robin Moore Steinberg (Bill), daughter Virginia Rector Mazzawi (Mark), and grandchildren Colin Steinberg, Abigail Steinberg, Susannah Steinberg, Aidan Moore, Beckett Moore, Maggie Mazzawi and Max Mazzawi.
In lieu of flowers and in honor of Diana’s love of gardening and animals, the family requests that memorial donations be made to any of the following: the Atlanta Botanical Gardens at https://atlantabg.org/donate/tribute-and-memorial-gifts/ Humane Society of Atlanta at atlantahumane.org/donate. Diana’s garden club. Make checks payable to the Camellia Garden Club of Atlanta, 125 Glen Holly Dr., Roswell, GA 30076.
A celebration of life ceremony will be held later in the spring.
