Diane Gitlin

passed away peacefully on November 28, 2024. She was the loving sister to her three

younger brothers Mark, Eddie, and Steven Stern, and devoted to family from the

very beginning.

Kieve Gitlin was the love of Diane’s life, and she was his. He was the boy Diane met at

the age of 12, and they dated throughout their teens. When he returned from his army

service, Kieve knocked on her door immediately, and they married in 1962. They were

happy, madly in love, and always having fun until Kieve’s untimely death in 2004. Diane

never really took a shine to anyone after he passed and would often say, “he was the

absolute best!”

After high school, Diane worked as a secretary in Manhattan, mastering shorthand

quickly and rising to the top at just 18 years old. Later, she began a lingerie business in

Brooklyn and eventually built the largest, most successful store on Staten Island called

“Diane’s Lingerie.” She helped thousands of people and genuinely cared for teenage

girls to the elderly, newlyweds, the women she compassionately fitted for mastectomy

bras, and the occasional cross-dresser who came in to shop.

Diane was sweet, thoughtful, generous, resilient, opinionated, and sharp. She

remarkably read at least three books a week consistently for decades. And Diane knew

how to have serious fun! She was always up for Broadway theatre, dancing, parties,

Atlantic City, and an ice-cold White Russian. Diane was excellent at playing Mahjong,

chess, Scrabble, Canasta, and especially bridge. She always said she preferred nice

game partners instead of the skilled, critical ones, as she valued kindness above all.

Diane was passionate about life, food, travel, friends, and all people, and was

completely loving and devoted to her close family.

Diane is survived by her daughter Stacy and son-in-law Henry, her grandchildren Jason

and Diane, Jessica and Rodrigo, Jeremy, and Samantha, and great-grandson Gabriel.

If you wish to honor her memory, Diane was an admirer of the organization “Hillel”

which supports Jewish college students.