Diana Jane Blimling

Diana Jane Blimling

Jul 10, 1948 – May 6, 2017

Preceded in death by father, Ray Tillwick; mother, Marian Tillwick; husband, Warren Blimling.  Survived by daughter, Amy DeFazio (Chris); son, Pat Blimling; grandchildren: Amanda DeFazio, C.J. DeFazio, and Seth Blimling; sisters, Sandra Stagner (John) and Ruth Ecker (Tom); brother, Mark Tillwick (Sandy); uncle, Frank Myers; aunt, Berniece Sheets; nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends Wednesday, May 10^th from 6pm to 8m at the Bel Air Chapel, 12100 W. Center Rd.  SERVICES Thursday, May 11^th at 10:30am at Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church, 15005 “Q” St.  Interment, Hillcrest Memorial Park.  Memorials are suggested to Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church or Josie Harper Hospice House.

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Dear Family & Friends:

We were asked to write a story of Mom’s life, an obituary of sorts. I just could not write this in a detached, formal fashion; it seemed too impersonal. So, here is a little letter from Pat and me to each of you, letting you know a little bit about Mom.

Having been born and raised in Omaha, Diana also made Omaha her home for her entire life. She grew up the eldest of three sisters and one brother. A graduate of Omaha North High 1966, she loved her Journalism classes and would probably cringe at the quality of my writing of this story of her life. She married Dad in 1969 and quickly started a family with me, Amy, in 1970 and my brother, Pat, in 1972. I think Mom had a premonition and knew my brother was going to be a handful—they stopped there.

Mom began work at Union Pacific Railroad about 1978. She held several positions, and even worked down on the tracks for a stint. She made several lifelong friends at UPRR and retired from there in 2008. Even after retirement, Mom attended the Employees’ Club dinners, and had “lunch and movie” dates with a couple of ladies from UP.

She attended church regularly, and would drag us kids and Dad by our ears if necessary. After Dad passed away in 2002 and after her retirement, being involved with the Seniors Group at church really helped Mom fill some of her days in a meaningful way.

In 1995, 1997 and 2001, Mom became a Grandma. She LOVED being a Grandma! When my kids were little, we would go over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house almost every Saturday for either donuts or Grandma’s Mickey Mouse pancakes. As the kids got older, she attended every school function they had—and they had PLENTY! She loved watching Amanda play viola and CJ sing in the choir. When Seth was born, Mom and Dad made the trek to Arizona to meet him, and she was at his football and FFA activities as he got older. Seth considers her his second mom because of the time he and Pat spent living with her.

Mom traveled quite a bit after retirement. She made trips to Mexico, Alaska and Israel. For a lady who never lived outside of Omaha, she got pretty adventurous in her later years! She had a great time on these trips, learned a lot, and made many great memories with her friends.

Mom had a pretty wicked sense of humor…even through the bad times, she could usually come up with some funny quip, saying, or joke. In fact, while I was going through her file cabinet, I found an entire file folder, 3 inches thick, of nothing but jokes! Mom was also a huge procrastinator and sometimes, well, if I am being honest, a lot of times, she had a hard time being “on-time.” She often told the story of her mom telling her that even if she lived ON TOP of the school, she would still find a way to be late. So, if we were late to any part of Mom’s funeral—it was her, not us!

In the few days since her passing, Pat and I have heard very lovely things about Mom. She touched many lives in such a positive and meaningful way. Thank you all for loving Mom and joining us today to celebrate her life and see her off into God’s loving hands.

Much love to all of you,

Amy, Pat, Chris, Amanda, CJ, & Seth