Obituary of Diane M. Schwab

Diane Marie Schwab, age 72, passed away late Friday evening after a brief two-week battle with coronavirus. Diane was born to Lynne & Robert Hudson in Wichita, Kansas in 1947 and lived there during her early life. Her father gave Diane the love of travel, as road trips in the early 1950s to neighboring states was a common family activity and Diane spoke fondly of these memories in later life. She and her mother moved to Queens, NY, after her parents separated, and Diane enjoyed modeling and performing into her early teens, once being featured as Tinkerbell on the Sandy Becker Show. After she completed her primary schooling, she returned to the mid-West to attend Wichita State University which was again followed by a return to New York state, thus beginning her adult life working as a buyer in Manhattan's prestigious garment district. In summer of 1970, Diane met Peter Schwab, the love her entire life, with whom she would soon marry and start a family in Long Island. Over the next 5 years, their three children were born, Kelley, Lynne & Greg. Diane continued to maintain the family home while writing short stories, poetry and making various types of needlework to fulfill her creatively. In 1975, the family moved to Williamsville, NY to take advantage of a job opportunity, and the family thrived. Eventually times were fortunate enough for Diane to acquire and care for what became one of her great passions, horses. Beginning with her first, Juby, an Appaloosa, Diane would soon shift her focus to Arabians. She had an opportunity for her horse Roulette to mate with a stallion from the Khemosabi bloodline, a prized pedigree in the Arabian breed at that time, producing the last of and most special of Diane's horses, Khe-Angel. Balancing family, the home and spending time at her friend's stable raising her horses, Diane's life in Buffalo included some of the happiest and most fulfilling times she would often recall. Family relocation was a common occurrence throughout Diane's life, but the last would be in 1986 when again she and her family crossed the state and moved to Staten Island, NY, which after a long absence from NYC, afforded Diane and her children to now routinely be with with her mother Lynne as well as reconnecting with other family throughout Queens and Long Island. As her children were now more independent, Diane was also able to happily return to the workforce starting with a 5-year career managing Mothercare in the Staten Island & Woodbridge Malls, followed by a brief year managing the former SI Cable store, and then a 13-year career with Reliable Office Systems of Staten Island, all jobs to which her outgoing, friendly personality were perfectly suited. As she & Peter's children grew up, they all continued to stay close together living on Staten Island. In 2001 she became a grandmother to Ethan, and again in 2007 when her granddaughter Alexandra was born, which also led to most of the family moving into a 2-family home in Heartland Village, keeping close connections with her grandkids, a priority for everyone. Diane continued to work at different companies as she got older and build friendships with neighbors, co-workers, and just about anyone she met on line at the grocery store. With the eventual incorporation of social media into her life, Diane continued to tighten those bonds with family and friends, new and old alike, updating and keeping everyone close. Diane also simply enjoyed spending nights with her family watching comedy television especially beside her husband laughing as loudly as she possibly could. Diane is survived by her 3 children, her daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, husband of nearly 50 years, and hundreds of family & friends too numerous to list but none of which are forgotten. Diane's family is having a private ceremony during this pandemic and in lieu of flowers, they ask that donations be made to FoodBankNYC.org, RobinHood.org, FeedingAmerica.org or a charity of choice addressing the coronavirus pandemic difficulties so many people are enduring at this time.