Louise A. Diven

Louise Diven, age 89, died peacefully on August 29, 2021, at her home in Culpepper Garden Apartments, Arlington, VA. Louise was the youngest and last surviving child of the late Charles Albert Diven and Mary Eliza (“Lida”) Morrison Diven, both of Arlington.

She had no children and was never married. She is survived by many nieces, nephews and their families: Craig Diven Johnston, wife Joyce, and their sons Bruce Payne Johnston (wife Kaitlin) and Ross Diven Johnston (wife Rachel), Mark Morrison Johnston, wife Kathy, and their son Mark Evan Johnston, S. Lacey Johnston, wife Colleen, and their daughters Maria (“Masha”) Finnegan Johnston and Leigh Finnegan Johnston, Ross Bryant Johnston, wife Faith, and their sons Cody Charles Johnston (wife Danielle) and Ross Alan Johnston, (Love Wallace), Gorman Stafford Donegan, Nancy Donegan French, husband William Allen, and their daughters Carolyn Mary French Reese (husband Jordan) and Kathleen Ann French, and Evan Christopher Donegan (wife Chelsea) and Colin Michael Donegan (wife Molly), the two sons of a deceased nephew Robert Diven Donegan.

Louise was a kind and cheerful person. She did not seek attention or push her views and opinions, and was always upbeat. She was liked by everyone who knew her. She took a keen interest in news of her extended family as well as in community and world news and affairs, collecting clippings from the newspaper and from magazines of events which interested her. When she knew that niece or nephew was coming to visit her, she would save tidbits of news and events that she thought would be of interest to them. As a lifelong resident of Arlington, she knew the history of almost every building and business in the community. No visit to Louise at her apartment was complete without a walk to a community restaurant for lunch, usually IHOP, where she was known as “Miss Louise” to the staff. Louise was retired from a career in the office of the Army Surgeon General in Washington, DC.

Louise’s funeral will be at 12:30 pm on Monday, September 27, 2021 at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Murphy Funeral Home of Arlington (www.murphyfuneralhomes.com, Funeral Director Samantha Washington, 703-920-4800, [email protected].). Since so many of her friends and family cannot come either to the funeral or to a visitation the evening before, the cemetery will be live-streaming the funeral ceremony, and there will be an online Zoom meeting beginning at 6 pm on Sunday, September 26, 2021, for family and friends of Louise to meet online, talk, and share their experiences with her. Invitations and instructions for viewing the live-stream and attending the Zoom meeting will be sent via email to those who have expressed an interest in attending, a few days before the funeral. Anyone who wishes to attend either or both the Zoom meeting and the funeral and has not provided their email address to the family, is requested to forward their email address to the funeral home by September 23, 2021.

In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Louise may be made to the American Diabetes Association.