Diana Barnard Richter

1928 - 2024

Diana Barnard Richter
Diana Pattison Barnard Richter of Fairfield, Conn. died peacefully Sunday, February 25, at home. A former longtime resident of Darien, CT and Bedford, NY, she was 95.
Mrs. Richter was born in Chicago, IL on May 13, 1928, elder daughter of the late Philip R. and Wanda Z. Pattison. She grew up in Chicago and Evanston, IL as well as El Paso, New Orleans, Tampa, FL, Columbus, Ohio and San Antonio. She was a 1949 graduate of the University of Missouri, where she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism.
Following graduation, she worked briefly as a fashion copywriter in San Antonio. She married the late Charles N. Barnard in 1949 and moved to New York City, where she became assistant editor of Modern Screen magazine.
She left publishing in 1951 and moved to Darien, CT, where she and Mr. Barnard raised their four children. In 1970, their marriage ended in divorce. During the early '70s, she freelanced as a copywriter and also publicized the development of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion of Norwalk as a house museum. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. She became entertainment/arts editor of The Darien News in 1974. In 1978, she became managing editor of that paper, which later became The Darien News-Review. She retired in 1993.
She moved to Bedford, NY when she married Anthony B. Richter in 1993. Mr. Richter died in 2007.
During her years in New York State, Mrs. Richter served on the board of the League of Women Voters of Bedford, Lewisboro, North Salem for more than a decade, acting as publicity chairman and secretary. She later was a member of the Somers League. She was also on the board of the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry for two years. She was a member of the Women's Civic Club of Katonah, serving as publicity chairman for six years. She was also on the Board of Deacons of the Bedford Presbyterian Church for three years.
She was active in the Pound Ridge Theater Company for several years and more recently was involved with the Heritage Hills Community Theater. She enjoyed writing short stories and memoirs and was a member of writers' groups in Bedford, North Salem, Somers and Fairfield. Several of her stories were published online and in anthologies.
She spent her final two years at Sturges Ridge in Fairfield, where she made many friends and headed the assisted living facility's writers group.
She is survived by two daughters, Jennifer L. Barnard and Rebecca B. Vanderheijden; two sons, Charles N. Barnard III and Patrick Barnard; a sister, Judith P. Price; a son-in-law, Vincent Vanderheijden; a daughter-in-law, Patricia Barnard; four grandchildren, Margaux and Kirk Vanderheijden, and Kimberly and Chaz Barnard; as well as Charles N. Barnard III's partner, Adrian Garinger.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 20 at Bedford Presbyterian Church, Bedford, NY.