Diane Lynn Riepe
March 16, 1951 ~ April 8, 2014
Of Sherman Oaks, California passed away on April 8, 2014, just days after winning her defiant two year battle with ovarian and colon cancer. She was born on March 16, 1951 in Portland, Oregon. As a child she moved and settled in Los Angeles, where she later attended college. She started her career in the music industry in the 70's as Head of Artist Development for ABC Records working on the musical careers of such artist as The Ramones, Steely Dan, Jimmy Buffet, The Band, Freddy Fender, Joni Mitchell and ACE, to name a few. From there she moved on to work closely on a project with legendary and award winning music producer, Roy Thomas Baker (RTB), during the creation and development of Queen's, "A Night of the Opera" album, which included one of the best selling singles of all time, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Shortly thereafter, she joined the "wild" west coast publicity department of Columbia Records and Sony Music, representing an extensive roster of talented bands and musicians, that included different genres from Top 40 to Rock n' Roll to Hip-Hop. Over her 10 year+ tenure with the company, she was awarded Publicist of the Year, as well as the recipient of several (multi) platinum and (multi) gold records. She later retired to devote her time to giving and helping others, and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for her grown daughter.
While she never met a stranger and enjoyed the company of people, her favorite past-time was to read, nosh, and gab on the phone. She could often be found in the shoe department of Nordstrom's for hours, and hours at a time. Her contagious and keen sense of humor, big fun personality, and free spirit will be deeply missed.
She is survived by her daughter, Stephanie L. Von Bluck-Heaston; son-in-law, Doug W. Heaston; granddaughter, Shelby M. Heaston; grandson, Zander S. Heaston of Redlands; mother, Frances J. Grossman of Los Angeles; brother, Alan Grossman of Los Angeles; Elliot Grossman of La Jolla and countless loyal friends and family.
Memorial Service and Niche Ceremony will be held on Friday, April 18, 2014 at 12:30 pm at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Church of the Hills and Columbarium of Eternal Promise, 6300 Forest Lawn Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90068, followed by a private reception.
In lieu of flowers please make online donations "In Memory of Diane L. Riepe" to: "Save the Music Foundation" or "The American Cancer Society."
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
1 Entry
I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear about Diane. I thought of her often. My heartfelt wishes goes to Stephanie and her family. And Frances, Alan and Elliot. I will hold on to the laughter Diane and I shared. She was and always will be a special soul.
Moira Schwartz
April 17, 2014
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