Diane Marie Notarianni was born in 1957 in Philadelphia, and grew up in Clarks Green, PA. She graduated with a BA from Franklin & Marshall College in 1979, with an MA from Northern Arizona University in 1982, and with a PhD in Social Anthropology from Arizona State University in 1997. She taught classes at NAU until 2002. Then she broadened her career into Traditional Chinese Medicine, and created a practice in acupuncture (One World Medicine) in Tucson from 2005 to 2015. Along the way she married in 1990 and adopted a son from Brazil in 1995, and added horses to her family in 1993 and horse friends to her life thereafter. She is survived by her husband Hugh Harris, her son Hayden Michael Harris, her brothers Joseph, William, and Michael Notarianni, and her sister Karla Notarianni.
Diane could only live an honest and ethical life. She fully believed people were people, and treated everyone with respect. She described her religion as Quaker/Buddhist/Catholic, and her strong but quiet spiritual beliefs came from these roots. She looked for the best in others. She wanted positive interactions with those around her and worked hard to have them. If a problem arose, she looked first at herself. She wanted to leave the world a better place because she was here, and she set a great example for those who knew her.
Diane chose challenges in her life, and then faced them with strength and energy and background study. She would strive to know her task thoroughly and then to do it right, from answering a research question to training a horse to baking a delicious pie or brewing a perfect cup of espresso. And she was handed difficult challenges; raising a son with a disability, and learning about a cancer when young and another cancer when older; she faced them with strength and thoughtfulness and balance and grace.
Diane celebrated her family name (little writer) and Italian heritage.
She loved her friends and family.
She loved her dogs and her horses.
She loved skiing and hiking and riding. She loved music.
She really loved camping with her horses and dogs and friends and guitar.
Her warm happy smile will be missed.
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