Diane Rae Osterberger

Diane Rae Osterberger passed away at 86 at the Kingsland Hills Care Center memory facility on Sunday, February 18th, 2024 after battling dementia.

Diane was born on June 4th, 1937 in Glendale, California to Robert Edwin Ziegler and Virginia Ellen Thurmond, the older sister to Jo Lynne. She grew up with a love for everyone around her and chose to pursue a career in teaching, happily working to mold the minds of children. She married Dean Ernest Toland on December 28th, 1956 in California and they had three wonderful children together – Scott, Sue, and Steve. Dean passed in 1966 and Diane later met and married James “Jim” Calvin Schrecengost on May 12th, 1967 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Together they raised the children from both of their first marriages, while also fostering multiple children in an effort to give them some stability and love. One of those children, Debi Stovall, ended up becoming a permanent part of their lives. Jim passed away in 2012. Diane later met Ron Osterberger while on a cruise with friends, and they would marry on July 30th, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he loved and cared for her until she passed.

Diane had a successful career as an elementary teacher and she was responsible for developing the curriculum for the gifted program adopted by LaVerne School District in California. Though she loved teaching, she transitioned to real estate where she enjoyed working for Century 21 for many years, managing a large division of the US offices and traveling to train employees across multiple states. She enjoyed traveling, having visited all 50 states and multiple countries, playing bridge, word games, knitting, cooking, and more than anything else she loved a good book. She always enjoyed time spent surrounded by family and friends, and would tell anyone that her favorite meal to go out and eat was breakfast. Family gatherings were often spent at Cracker Barrell for breakfast or Spring Creek Barbeque for dinner, but nothing felt quite as special as time spent at her home as she prepared you a meal herself.

She is preceded in death by father, Robert Ziegler, mother, Virginia Thurmond, step-father Joseph “Wes” Kemp, husbands Dean Toland and Jim Schrecengost, step-son Stephen Schrecengost, and son Steve Toland.

Diane is survived by husband Ron Osterberger of Marble Falls, Texas; sister Jo Lynne Woolsey of Fountain Valley, California; son Scott Toland and his wife Bonnie of Ellensburg, Washington, daughter Sue Toland and her wife Regina Runge of Sun City West, Arizona, foster-daughter Debi Stovall of Azle, Texas; step-son Jay Schrecengost, step-daughter Rebekah Schrecengost; and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren spread across the United States, all of whom loved her more than words can say and will miss her terribly.

Diane wished to be cremated, and her ashes will be interred alongside her predeceased husband, Jim, in Sun City West, Arizona. A memorial for her is planned at her former church in Arizona on Saturday March 2nd, and a celebration of life meal will take place on Saturday March 9th in Texas. Family and friends are invited to either, or to remember her privately.

Her family would like to thank the nurses at the Kingsland Hills Care Center for their loving care of Diane in her final months with us. They treated her with respect and patience and made the end of her life one without pain.

In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that if you’d like to honor Diane that you either donate to a dementia or Alzheimer’s research organization or donate books to a local school or daycare in need. Nothing would honor her more than knowing that she had a part in helping a new generation read.

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