Diane Michelle "Ranie" Gaehle

Our hearts are sad to share that Diane Michelle “Ranie” Gaehle, 70, beloved Partner, Parent, Granny, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Great Aunt, friend to many, and adopter of countless strays, both two-legged and four-legged, passed away at home in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday, November 3, 2023, after a mighty battle with multiple illnesses.

Diane was born on October 27, 1953, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Clifford “Tip” and Arlene Gaehle. She grew up in Pond, Missouri, in the footsteps of her sister, Debra, who was 14 months older. Diane was proud of the fact that her parents continued to live in the little house she was born in and her sister lived right next door. Diane attended Pond Elementary and graduated from Lafayette High School in 1971. Athletics were a big focus in their family, and both girls played softball while Tip helped coach.

Diane received her B.S. in Education at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, in December 1977. It was there that her athletic abilities flourished. Diane was a member of the 1974 Women’s College World Series National Championship softball team. She continued a lifelong friendship with many of her teammates, and joined the celebration when the 1974 team was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

After college, Diane continued playing softball as the first baseman on the 1980 Coors team that won the Missouri major level championship. She then retired to become a coach with O’Byrne Electric and Ozark Communications, teams that dominated at the state level and also competed at the national level. The group won five State titles in a row, and went to the national tournament each year, with Diane as the head coach or co-coach. Diane said one of her proudest moments as an athlete and a coach was her election to the Springfield Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame in 2002.

Diane began her career as a Physical Education teacher at the junior high school in Lockwood, Missouri, where she coached basketball, volleyball and track for six years. She also worked at Bass Pro Shops warehouse and as a Quality Control Inspector at Kraft Foods in Springfield.

In the late 1980s, after unsuccessfully applying for employment at the Missouri Department of Transportation, Diane was part of a class-action gender discrimination lawsuit against MODOT. The women won the lawsuit and Diane was hired at MODOT as a result of it. She worked at MODOT for eight years as an Aggregate Inspector, rising to the rank of Intermediate Materials Supervisor/Safety officer for four years until she left in 2002. Diane was proud of her ability to successfully work in a field that many considered a man’s job.

As a result of her declining health, and her desire to pick up their three kids at the end of the school day, Diane worked in a number of jobs in the home health care industry, a job she was particularly well-suited for because of her empathy for elderly patients and handicapped clients who wanted to remain living in their homes. Diane’s big heart stretched even bigger as she loved her people fiercely and often came home in tears because she couldn’t do more.

Diane met the love of her life, Mary, in Springfield, in 1976, at SMSU (now called MSU). They enjoyed a friendship, but when they reconnected in 1984, they became a couple. After Diane joined Mary in Kansas City in 1989, they began to talk about children. Sarah McKay Schulte was born in February 1993, and Daniel Adrian Schulte was born in February 1997. One day in early 2000, Diane called Mary to ask, “Do we have any baby stuff left?” Thus began the story of their third child, Solomon Zane Schulte, who made their family complete.

Not quite complete. In addition to three children, the Gaehle-Schulte household was famous for gathering strays, at one time including three dogs, four cats, several fish and a fire-belly toad. Diane was a pushover for an animal sob story, and if she couldn’t keep them, she found them a good home. Diane’s compassion and loyalty carried over to her friends, too. Everyone knew if they needed brute strength for a task, Diane was the one to call. Or if they needed an obnoxious man thrown over a table in the bar, Diane would handle it. Or a refrigerator lifted onto the back of a truck on moving day, good thing Diane was there.

In later years, gathering for Chiefs games with longtime buddies Kater, Cathy, and Janie was the highlight of Diane’s week. Figuring out who would host and what we would eat took quite a bit of planning. And when we couldn’t get together, our text chain that included best bud Becky and Lynne kept Diane entertained and she hooped and hollered loud enough to be heard across town.

Diane’s sudden passing leaves a giant hole in our hearts. She leaves behind her partner of 39 years, Mary Schulte; their children Sarah McKay Schulte, Daniel Adrian Schulte (Lexi Naegele), Solomon Zane Schulte, and her sweet granddaughter, Nixon Loa Schulte, who loved her Granny Ranie. Diane and her sister, Debbie Pinson, talked to each other almost every day throughout their lives, and Debbie’s family held a special place in Diane’s life. She leaves behind her nephew, Jeremy Pinson (Amy), and her niece Lindsey Klump (Kevin) and her great nieces and nephews: Trent, Laney, Lexi, Wesley, and Cole. Diane was preceded in death by her parents, Tip and Arlene Gaehle, and her brother-in-law Will Pinson. Also, by too many pets to list by name, whose ashes sit on the animal shelf in the kitchen.

The Celebration of Life for Ranie will be held Saturday, November 11, 2023, at McGilley State Line Chapel at 123rd and State Line Road, with a visitation at 2 p.m. and a sharing of stories and memories at 3 p.m. The family requests that in keeping with Diane’s wishes to not have anything fancy, friends wear their favorite red shirts, especially if they contain references to the Kansas City Chiefs or St. Louis Cardinals.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to KC Pet Project or the American Diabetes Association in Diane Gaehle’s name.