Diane Lynn Martin

Diane Lynn Martin

1/31/1951 – 11/25/2023

Diane passed into Jesus’s arms surrounded by her family and friends on November 25, 2023. She was fighting cancer for the third time in six years, and a weakened immune system allowed an infection to unexpectedly take her life.

Diane was born on January 31, 1951, in Port Angeles to Bill and Florence Movius. As a child, she loved visiting Gardiner to spend time with her grandmother and go fishing on Discovery Bay with her dad. When her family moved to Tacoma, they lived across the street from a handsome fellow named Dennis. Rumor has it he had a little red wagon in which she got a ride or two. For a short period of time her family moved away, but when they relocated back to the neighborhood, she found the same guy with the red wagon was now the paper boy. Romance flourished for Diane and Dennis, which led to 58 ½ wonderful years together, married for 52.

During these years they shared their lives with two sons, Matthew and Michael, and Michael’s daughters, Emma and Elaina. Diane worked for Tacoma Public Schools for 32 years as an Administrative Assistant. Dennis and Diane built their retirement home in Gardiner, which always had been her dream.

Diane loved the Lord her entire life. She was a church secretary and Sunday School teacher at McKinley Hill Friends Church. She also coordinated a church mission at the Gardiner Community Church that supported our troops during the Iraq War, sending over 1,000 boxes of goodies to the soldiers stationed there. If she could have, she would have taken in every stray animal that crossed her path. She had a special fondness for her dachshunds, having seven of them over her lifetime. Diane loved her family and friends unconditionally, and that love and compassion touched countless people. She will be deeply missed by all who had the fortune of knowing her.

Diane is survived by her husband Dennis, sons Matthew and Michael, granddaughters Emma and Elaina, older half-brother Ron Eckstein, older sister Pam Chambers, younger sister Debbie Dickson and husband Richard, and younger brother Bill Movius and wife Renee. Diane was preceded in death by her parents William and Florence Movius. There will be a private burial at the Gardiner Community Cemetery, followed by a Celebration of Life at the Gardiner Community Church and Community Center in January (date not yet determined).

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Diane Lynn Martin, please visit our floral store.