Dianne Jeannette Mork

Dianne was born on November 24, 1942 on a farm in Redwood County, Minnesota, to Herman Fred Muetzel and Meta Anna Muetzel. Dianne married Gordon Robert Mork on August 11, 1963 at Glenwood Lutheran Church in Glenwood, Minnesota. A series of moves early in their marriage took them from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Davis, California to Madison, Wisconsin. Dianne and Gordon settled in Lafayette, Indiana in 1970. The couple were married for forty-eight years before Gordon passed away, and they raised three children together.

Dianne graduated from Glenwood High School in 1960 and earned her nursing degree in 1963 from St. Barnabas School of Nursing in Minneapolis. As a Registered Nurse, she served in capacities ranging from Home Hospital’s emergency room to head nurse at Purdue University Student Health Service to the first aid station at Purdue University home football games.

Along with Gordon, Dianne was a world traveler. The couple lived for a year in Heidelberg, Germany in 1964-1965 in conjunction with Gordon’s graduate studies, and for another year in Hamburg, Germany with their children in 1975-1976. Dianne and Gordon also traveled extensively in the U.S. and abroad, both in conjunction with their residence in Germany and on family vacations with their children. Many summer vacations were spent at the family cabin on the shores of Lake Miltona, Minnesota.

Dianne was active in the local community. A member of Central Presbyterian Church since 1970, she served as trustee and participated as a member of Circle 19 and Women of the Word. She enjoyed theater, and enthusiastically attended cultural events ranging from Purdue Convos to her grandchildren’s performances in community theater groups. She was also a longtime member of Fortnightly Literary Society with Gordon.

Dianne was an avid historic preservationist. Not only was she active in such organizations as the Wabash Valley Trust for Historic Preservation, the Lafayette Historic Review Board and the Perrin Avenue Neighborhood, but she was the driving force behind the restoration of the family home in the Perrin Historic Neighborhood. Many were the buckets of paint stripper that she employed in meticulously removing layers of paint from its butternut woodwork, and her feats of hanging historic reproduction wallpapers from its tall ceilings are the stuff of family legend. Her efforts were recognized with the Wabash Valley Trust for Historic Preservation Award, and the Perrin-Wymer-Mork House will forever be remembered by her grandchildren as the House of Wonders.

Dianne brought the same meticulous care that served her so well in nursing and historic restoration to so much else that she did. Her family and friends will remember her cooking (so often from scratch and including remarkable pies), the pets she loved so much (ranging from standard poodles and greyhounds to parrots and saltwater fish), the plants she tended so carefully (both inside and out), and the innumerable handicrafts she practiced (ranging from embroidery to basket-making). She loved flowers, dishes, holiday decorations (especially German and Norwegian ones), beetle convertibles, Disney theme parks, and most of all her children and grandchildren.

Dianne spent her last three years in Orlando, Florida with her youngest daughter Elizabeth Anne Mork. She was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings Wilma Vivian Schmidt, Darold Herman Muetzel, Maurice Milo Muetzel and Verlaine Ellen Sandberg. She is survived by her children Robert Gordon Mork (Jill Elizabeth Wiley) of Stavanger, Norway, Kristiana Dianne Roberts (Jeffrey Allan Roberts) of Lafayette and Elizabeth Anne Mork of Orlando, Florida; her grandchildren Madeline Elaine Roberts (fiancé Joseph Meseke) of Columbia, Maryland, Meredith Anne Roberts of Carlsbad, New Mexico, Matthew Alfred Roberts, André Ryan Wiley, Elizabeth Rose Mork and Gordon Theodore Mork; and her siblings Lawrence Leo Muetzel, Elizabeth Ann Hanson and Deloris Mae Frisby.

Visitation will be held at Central Presbyterian Church in Lafayette on Friday, July 15, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 16 at 10:00 a.m. Contributions in memory of Dianne may be made to the Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference or Indianapolis Greyhound Pets of America. Memories and condolences may be shared online at DignityMemorial.com.