She is survived by sister, Mary Beth; daughter, Mary (Eric); sons, Michael (Jeffrey), John (Deb), Brian, William (Jodi); eleven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren, along with a niece and nephews.
Growing up in Minneapolis, Dyan started dance lessons with Dorothy Lundstrom at the age of four. At the age of twelve, Dyan would take the city bus to Annunciation Church in North Minneapolis. Dorothy was a teacher of dance, grace, and proper etiquette of the time; character traits that served her students well in dance and life. Dyan continued with dance throughout high school. After high school, Dorothy accompanied Dyan to New York to audition for the Rockettes. Dyan became a Rockette in 1958. She performed at the acclaimed Radio City Music Hall, far from her home and family in Minneapolis.
Later, she married John Dwight Ferrell, also of Minneapolis. They met at a homecoming crowning held at Woodlake School in Richfield at the age of thirteen. She was crowned queen and he was crowned king. They settled in Orange, California where they had five children. They divorced in 1971 and Dyan moved herself and the five children back to Minneapolis to be with her immediate family. While raising her five children, she opened her own dance studio, “Dyan’s World of Dance”. Her reputation as a loving, but firm dance teacher attracted many students from the Burnsville/ Eagan area. “Dyan’s World of Dance” became a competitive entity in local and national dance competitions. Going full circle, Dyan returned to teaching at Lundstrom Studios after she sold her own.
After battling dementia and physical limitations, she is now free to dance once again. The family would like to express their deepest thanks to the health care workers at Episcopal Homes in St. Paul. We would also like to express gratitude to the healthcare workers at Regions Hospital during her final days.
“Dance is the movement from one step to another. Life is the movement from one moment to another. Both involve a stage and an encore.”
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