Diana Marie Walls

A Memorial Service will be held at Community Lutheran Church at 3720 E. Tropicana Ave, Las Vegas, NV, on January 20, 2023 at 1:00 pm. A reception will be held at the church immediately following the service. In honor of Diana’s passion for penguins, this is also “Penguin Awareness Day”!

Diana was born in 1948 in Lakehurst, New Jersey, to parents Harris and Betty Gustafson. She was the second oldest of 6 children. Diana’s father was a Commander in the US Navy for 28 years, so Diana’s siblings were all born in different states. Diana graduated from Alameda High School in CA and later graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1970. She then got a job as the Secretary for the Senate Sargent at Arms in Washington DC.

In 1976, Diana moved to Las Vegas, NV, where she resided until 2019. During her time in Las Vegas, she worked as a Blackjack dealer at the Nevada Palace, the Fremont, Stardust, Palazzo and Venetian. She was an amazing woman who loved meeting people from all over the world and customers would come back year after year to sit at her table and enjoy her vivaciousness for life. In addition to her work life, she was a huge supporter of the Downs Syndrome Foundation of Southern Nevada. For several years, she hand-crafted amazing Christmas Trees to be sold at auction with proceeds supporting the Downs Foundation. Some of her trees brought upwards of $8000 to support this wonderful foundation. Diana was famous for immersing her whole self into everything she loved. In addition to a full-time job and many hobbies, Diana had a passion for penguins that was astounding! Anyone who knew Diana would refer to her as the “Penguin Lady”. Her penguin collection was enormous and always on display in her home, car and on her person!

In 1977, Diana was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called Marfan’s Syndrome. Subsequently, she had 3 open-heart surgeries to replace her aortic heart valve. All the while, Diana maintained a “larger than life” attitude and amazed everyone she knew with her love for life, in spite of her disease. Her life expectancy was only 48 years old and yet she lived to be 74!

In 2003, Diana married her lifelong sweetheart, Thomas Walls. Their lives were filled with wonderful memories of days gone by, family and a love of dogs. Together they lived and worked in Las Vegas until moving to Peoria, Arizona, in 2019. Shortly after moving to AZ, Tom passed away at the age of 76. Diana is also preceded in death by her father. She is survived by her mother, Betty Gustafson, age 96, 4 sisters, 1 brother, 1 sister-in-law, 2 brothers-in-law and numerous nieces and nephews. Her loving kindness and compassion will be greatly missed by many!