Helen Diane Shafer

Helen Diane Olsen Shafer passed away on May 14th, 2023. She was born on August 8, 1944 in Ponca City, OK, the second of three children born to John William (Bill) and Edna Mae Barton Olsen and grew up on her family’s cattle ranch near Hardy, Oklahoma. She went to Consolidated 106 for grades 1-8 and then graduated from Newkirk High School where she met and dated her husband Dick before going to Oklahoma State University. She majored in Home Economics Education and was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. She and Dick married in August 15, 1965 and she graduated early and started teaching in rural schools while Dick finished his degree in Veterinary Medicine. From Stillwater, Dick and Diane travelled the world together for 24 years while Dick was in the Air Force. At each new station, once she got everything unpacked and settled into the new home, Diane would find a new job. When they were stationed in Okinawa Japan (77-80), Diane enrolled in classes for her Masters in Secondary School Counseling. She graduated with that degree and that fueled her career as a High School Guidance Counselor until she retired in 2002. She was generous, kind and caring and she loved to help people. And through her career she helped countless numbers of high schoolers through the challenges of high school, home life, college recommendation letters and scholarship applications. And at the end of the day, she always made it home in time to watch Nanci and Beth in their countless school and sporting activities.

In retirement, they moved back to the Shafer family farm at Newkirk, OK and immersed herself back into her family. After her mother, father and sister passed away, she and Dick moved back to Keller, TX to be near Nanci and Beth. They were looking forward to spending time with them and their grandsons Riley and Reese. Unfortunately, just 6 months after returning to Texas, Diane was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Surgery and treatments at MD Anderson, and a lot of hard work and faith in God gave Diane an additional and invaluable 4 years with her family. But in early 2023, the tumor returned. Despite her faith and fighting spirit, many difficult trips back and forth to MD Anderson and a failed experimental drug, it was her time to join her Heavenly Father.

Diane was a devout Christian and a devoted and selfless wife, mother, grandmother and educator. She is survived by her husband of nearly 58 years, Dick Shafer, daughter Nanci Jeanne Cronk and her husband Kevin, daughter Elizabeth Marie Patrick and her husband Anthony, and grandchildren Riley and Reese Patrick and her brother John Barton (JB) Olsen and many beloved cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents William J. Olsen and Edna Mae Barton Olsen and her sister Nan Olsen Drummond.

The family has requested in lieu of flowers that memorial gifts for Diane be made to:

White’s Chapel Methodist Church

Attn: Finance Department

185 S. White’s Chapel Blvd

Southlake, TX 76092

Or: First United Methodist Church of Newkirk

101 S Walnut Ave.

Newkirk, OK 74647

Or: Ursuline Sister’s Retirement Fund

353 S Sappington Rd

St. Louis, MO 63122

Or: Any charity of your choosing

For acknowledgment, please note that your gift is made to the memory of Diane Shafer. At a family service, Diane’s ashes will be scattered by the family at the Olsen ranch on the banks of Meyer’s creek near the train trestle where she played as a child with her sister Nan, brother John Barton and grandmother Nannie Olsen.