Diane Rene Brown Hawes, 62, passed away Thursday, September 9, 2021, at Columbus Regional Hospital. Diane was born in Columbus on July 20, 1959 to parents Walter and Nancy Phares Brown. She spent her youth in Elizabethtown and Hope where her father, Walter Brown, farmed for nearly 60 years. She attended Hauser Junior and Senior High and later, Columbus North High School.
Diane became involved in Democratic politics at age of 10 when her mother ran for County Treasurer and later for Mayor of Columbus. She later helped her Republican husband Craig Hawes get elected for two of his four terms as a Columbus City Councilman. Although a died-in-the wool Democrat she attended all Republican functions and campaigned door to door for Craig. Diane ran for County Council on the Democratic ticket. As her husband, Craig, told people, "Dinner time conversations were interesting."
Diane grew up being with the people she loved and enjoyed being around them. She always knew everyone in the room. She knew who they were married to, who their kids were, and what everyone had done and was doing. She was very involved in her community and loved every minute of it.
She loved working as a dispatcher at Columbus Police and Fire Dispatch and helped move the dispatch center to its new location in East Columbus. She became a Certified Dispatch Trainer and did the dispatch training for the department as well as Columbus Police Department and Fire Fighters. She later became Operations manager at franklin Police Department Dispatch. She wrote the training procedures for that department and did training for Franklin Police and Firemen. Diane most enjoyed working for Turning Point Domestic Violence Services. As an Administrative Assistant she worked toward the prevention and the elimination of domestic and dating violence. She volunteered to do a lot of things and you usually never knew she was working in the background. She also volunteered on the Columbus Board of Realtors Education Committee and served on the Board that decided where the Inn Tax Money would be distributed.
Additionally, Diane supervised and prepared the annual fund-raising dinner for the Hartsville Christian Church where she frequently attended. She was baptized as a member of Bearean Bible Church, and also attended First Christian Church where she and her husband Craig were married on August 13, 2006.
Diane graduated with her Associates Degree from Purdue University, IUPUC and was working towards her Bachelor's degree in Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Louisville. In addition to her expanding education, she completed courses through Leadership Bartholomew County and Indiana Realtors Leadership.
Diane is survived by her husband, Craig; her children, Anthony Wayne "Tony" Halberstadt and Angela Dawn Halberstadt, both of Columbus; her mother, former Mayor Nancy Ann Brown Poynter; and step-father James Donald Poynter, both of Edinburgh; grandchildren, Elyzabeth, Shyanne, and Destiny Halberstadt, and Even Jackson; step-grandson, Kyle Turner; step sisters, Donna Gayle (John) Hyatt, Cathy (Charles) Rodenhuis, and Lisa (William Brian) Drake; mother-in-law, Donna Hawes; her best friend, Renee Wilson; and many beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father, Walter L. Brown.
A funeral service for Diane will be held Friday, September 17 at 1 p.m. at Myers-Reed Chapel with Rev. Jerry Day officiating. Burial will follow at Garland Brook Cemetery. Friends may call for visitation three hours prior to the service, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Memorial donations in Diane's honor may be made to Our Hospice of South Central Indiana or Turning Point of Columbus.
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Myers-Reed is honored to serve the Hawes family.
