Diane does not ever remember a time in her life when she did not want to fly. Growing up on a farm in northeast Nebraska, she watched the Iowa Air National Guard P-51s make their approaches into the Sioux City Air Base and experienced her first flight in a small plane when local pilots took up farmers to survey soil conservation practices in the county. They were lasting impressions.

Diane earned her private pilot certificate in the summer of 1966 and with that evolved a commitment to aerospace education and the preservation of aviation history. In 1973, she flew into Ord, Nebraska, and it was there she learned about Evelyn Sharp...a 15 year-old-barnstorming aviatrix who would one day fly the Army Air Forces pursuits of WWII.

In 1991, The National Endowment for the Humanities Teacher-Scholar Award made it possible for Diane to begin the research and later publish "Sharpie: The Life Story of Evelyn Sharp - Nebraska's Aviatrix". She served as principal consultant for the documentary film, "Sharpie: Born To Fly."

Diane holds memberships in several aviation organizations, serving as aerospace education coordinator for the Lincoln and State Chapters of the Air Force Association, Nebraska Chapter of Ninety-Nines, Inc., Paul Adams Tuskegee Airmen Chapter, and STARBASE Nebraska, Inc. She has spoken at national meetings, been published in journals and periodicals, sits on aviation advisory boards, and is a member of the Nebraska Humanities Speakers Bureau.

Among awards Diane has received are the Frank E. Sorenson Pioneering Award in Aerospace Education from the University of Nebraska-Omaha Aviation Institute and Medal of Merit Awards from the National Air Force Association. She is an honorary member of Silver Wings, a student aviation service organization at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

On March 9, 2010, Diane served as the family representative for Evelyn Sharp at the Air Force Memorial Remembrance Ceremony in Washington, D.C. It honored Evelyn and the other thirty-seven Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) who gave their lives for our country. The next day in Emancipation Hall, U.S. Capitol Building, she accepted the Congressional Gold Medal for Evelyn Sharp.

Diane served as project director for a memorial monument which recognizes the nineteen Nebraska women who served as WASP during WWII. It was dedicated on June 12, 2010, at the Veterans Memorial Garden in Lincoln, Nebraska.

A lifelong resident of Nebraska and retired educator, Diane continues to make a strong commitment toward youth and the preservation of our rich aviation heritage.