Diane was born in Portland, Oregon on March 18th, 1941.
As a young girl, Diane was very precocious and learned how to read through her perusal of “Popular Mechanics” magazine.
In Grade school, Diane always had a much stronger interest in mechanics and tools rather than dolls and toys. After graduation from high school, Diane attended Lewis and Clark College on a full scholarship to study chemistry and biology. After completing her freshman year, she transferred to OSU and completed her studies in science obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Biology.
Diane was one of the first women in the State of Oregon to be awarded a Sanitarian’s license (investigating health and safety within the environment). However, because she was a woman, she was unable to find employment in that field with her licensure.
Upon graduation, Diane worked for several years on the northern Oregon Coast in the hospitality, hotel industry.
Next, she moved to Portland and started a job as an underwriter for The Standard Insurance Company. It was through this job that she was introduced by a mutual friend to her spouse/SO (Jerry Watari) and they married at The Old Church in Portland on February 1, 1992.
Diane then decided to leave her employer and strike out on her own to launch a new business that eventually became a premier event’s planning business run completely out of her energies and talents which she called “Occasions”. Diane was involved for 25+ years with Occasions in planning corporate and private events at over 6,500 locations that she was able to preview and schedule depending on the needs of her clients for anniversaries, business events, open houses, weddings etc. Much of this work (organizing and planning) was done prior to widespread availability of personal computer technology – and was managed by Diane and her staff from her home office. Venue’s such as Portland Parks, The Bishop’s Close, the Laurelhurst Church and the Old Church in downtown Portland were just some of the many locations where Diane was able to help others coordinate and gather their events successfully.
Diane was also principally responsible for managing the health challenges and treatments for her spouse Jerry, who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma which often presents itself with a severely diminished life expectancy for those who are afflicted. Through her grit and determination, she was able to assist Jerry to extend his life expectancy for 30 plus years – and he is deeply grateful for that gift from his spouse.
A service of burial will be held at Willamette National Cemetery on Thursday, October 6 at 12:45PM