The life and memory of Diane Marie Dettenwanger Benson will be celebrated on Saturday, February 14th from 11am to 1pm at McGilley State Line Chapel. A memorial service will follow, in the same location, at 2pm.
Diane was born on May 9th, 1946 to John and Beata Dettenwanger and was the oldest of five siblings – the “big sister” to four brothers. Moving from Kansas City to Overland Park when she was young, Diane grew up in the Cure of Ars parish and attended Loretto High School. As a girl and teenager, Diane enjoyed riding horses, spending time with her neighborhood friends, working at Pinkie’s Dime Store, visiting her Grandmother in St. Louis, bowling and cruising Allen’s Drive In. She was very artistic, enjoyed history and developed a love for camping that would continue through her adult years.
At age 18, Diane joined the Beta Sigma Phi social sorority which was an organization she cherished her membership in for 50 years. She held elected posts in the local council and within her chapter, and served on hundreds of committees. The friends she made in Beta Sigma Phi would remain her friends the rest of her life and she truly loved them all.
Also in her late teens, Diane met and fell in love with Roger Benson from Lawrence, Kansas. The two married in 1968 and settled down in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri in a house they would continue to call home for the next 46 years. They were soon blessed with three daughters and ultimately became the proud grandparents of 9 grandchildren.
Diane worked numerous jobs as a bookkeeper when her kids were young since it gave her the flexibility to stay at home with them. Being a wife and mother was always her greatest priority. She made home feel like home and she encouraged and supported all her family’s activities. Once her girls were grown, she found employment with the IRS, which she eventually retired from after working her way into a management role.
We’ll remember how Diane enjoyed and celebrated life. She loved to travel and go on adventures. She always threw the best parties, and certainly enjoyed attending them. For Halloween she dressed in costume. Thanksgiving was always a family occasion. Christmas was her favorite and her opportunity to display her collection of Santas. New Year’s Eve, Easter and birthdays were yet other occasions to celebrate with family and friends.
Diane was the consummate wife, mother and friend. She was loving, loyal, honest, open and warm to her core. Nothing mattered as much to her as her husband Roger, her girls, her grandkids, her brothers and parents and all her dear friends. And we’ll all miss her very much. She’ll be met in Heaven by her parents and two granddaughters.
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