Diane Steed Long

She was the only child of Frank Everett Steed Jr. of Durham, NC and Margaret Granica of Chicago, Illinois. She was the grandchild of Joseph (“Djiadek”) Granica and Victoria (“Booshah”) Granica, who immigrated to the U.S. from Poland around 1902.

Diane was born in Chicago on January 6, 1940. When she was one, her parents relocated to Durham County, where she grew up in the Gorman community and was in part raised by her paternal grandparents, Frank Everett Steed Sr. and Martha Dupree Steed.

She attended Glenn Elementary School and Durham’s Northern High School. After graduation, she joined Watts School of Nursing in Durham. During her last year of nursing school, she lost her mother to a battle with breast cancer and also experienced the death of her beloved paternal grandparents. On February 2, 1963 (Groundhog’s Day), she married Moody Allen Long. They moved to Wake County and eventually built a home in Apex in 1971, where she lived for the rest of her life.

Diane received her Master’s degree in Nursing from St. Joseph’s College in the 1980s. She worked for many years in the Wake Med Hospital system and was an administrator for Western Wake Branch Hospital in Apex, Northern Wake Hospital in Wake Forest, and Southern Wake Hospital in Fuquay-Varina. In the early 1990s, she became the Director of Nursing at The Forest at Duke Continuous Care Retirement Community in Durham. Here, she worked tirelessly with her colleagues to transform The Forest at Duke into one of the top retirement communities in the area. Her co-workers lovingly called her “The Energizer Bunny” due to her stamina and commitment to positively impact the lives of the residents and staff members.

Diane was also involved in a vast array of extracurricular organizations and activities, especially after her retirement in 2010. She and her husband were active members of Apex Baptist Church for 50 years. She was also a member of the Apex United Methodist Church since 2015, participated in the prayer team, and enjoyed singing in the choir. As active president of the Apex Historic Society for several years, she helped organize an annual Historic Christmas Home Tour as well as a yearly Historic Society plant sale fundraiser. In recent years, she became very active in the Wake County Republican Women’s Group.

When she wasn’t working to improve the lives of others with her firm dedication and clear purpose, Diane enjoyed going on cruise vacations with her favorite cousin from Chicago, including trips to Alaska, Hawaii, and throughout the Caribbean. At 73 years of age, she fulfilled a longtime dream of going to the Holy Land before going on a mission trip just a few months later to serve an orphanage in Tamil Nadu, India.

Diane was an extremely avid gardener who loved spending time working in the gardens she planted in her yard. She stayed active and liked to go to the annual Art In Bloom festival at the NC Museum of Art and attend garden-related events like Tony Avent, The Big Bloomer in Sanford, NC, and the flower displays at the NC State Fair. She also enjoyed visiting Duke Gardens. Additionally, she was energized by going out with loved ones for lunch and dinner and attending her high school and Watts nursing school reunions.

She was a true “people-person” who loved and was loved by many. Diane will be remembered for her gleeful laughter, her optimistic outlook, and her genuine desire and deep personal conviction to help people, as inspired by her love of God.

Diane was preceded in death by her parents, her maternal and paternal grandparents, her father-in-law and mother-in-law Moody and Mable Long of Apex, her husband Moody Allen Long, her best friends from the Gorman community, and many others. She is survived by her only daughter Connie Long Moriarty and husband Peter Matthew Moriarty and his family, her husband’s family members, nephew Frank Settlemyer and his wife Robyn and sons Philip and Wells from Macon, Georgia, her brother-in-law Lawrence Long as well as her sister Pam Belcher Jones and her family.

The visitation and funeral service will be held on Friday, April 11, 2025, beginning at 12:30pm at the Apex United Methodist Church.

Gifts, and donations are welcome to be given directly to the Estate of Diane Steed Long, the Western Wake Crisis Ministry-https://wwcm.org/give-help/ or, Cat Angels Pet Adoptions- https://catangelsnc.org/donate.