Diana Kay Weatherford

Diana Kay (Gatlin) Weatherford of Flower Mound, TX, follower of the Lord Jesus, Sweet Wife, mother, sister, aunt, systems engineer, and one strong Prairie Woman completed her fight with ALS and moved on to eternity on September 23, 2025.

A celebration of Diana's life of service will be held on Saturday, Oct 11, 2025 at the Garden Ridge Church of Christ, at 102 N Garden Ridge Blvd, Lewisville, TX 75067, beginning at 10:30 AM CT. The family invites anyone who would like to honor Diana's memory.

Diana is survived by her husband, Kim L. Weatherford of Flower Mound, TX, who now must live without the love of his life. He doesn't begrudge Diana being in the presence of God, he just isn't sure how to manage until he sees her again. Diana is also survived by two daughters, Dr. Emma Jane Weatherford and Abby Caroline Weatherford, both of Dallas, Texas.

Other survivors include five siblings, brothers Dave (Oleva) Gatlin of Shell Knob, MO, Duane (Christina) Gatlin of Tomball TX, and Terry (Michelle) Gatlin of Pratt KS, and sisters Wilma (Mike) Lauber of Hill City, KS, and Dorothy (Kent) Macy of Charleston, IL. , brother-in-law and sister-in-law Timothy and Peggy Weatherford of Columbia, TN, brother-in-law Paul Crews of Neosho, MO, father-in-law Larry Weatherford and Aunt Rita Burton of Murray, Ky, Uncle Wayne Lauritsen of Colby, KS, and a cornucopia, yea verily, a plethora of nieces and nephews.

Diana was preceded in death by parents Joyce and Calvin Gatlin, mother-in-law Janice Weatherford, brother Kenneth Gatlin, and sister Rita Crews.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to The Joyce Gatlin Family Scholarship Fund

https://gnwkcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1469

Diana's Story

Diana was born on the High Plains in Colby, Kansas, on January 28, 1963. She was number 6 of 8 closely spaced siblings born to Calvin and Joyce (Lauritsen) Gatlin, undoubtedly two very tired people. She managed to survive the usual blizzards, dust storms, and grasshopper attacks common to those prairie folk, developing a feisty persona that would persist throughout her life.

Diana excelled in academics, music, and sports in school. When Title IX allowed the girls (!!) to play all sports, Diana was ready. Activating her feisty, she joined the basketball team, ran on the track team as a sprinter and, in a major step for womankind, created the Girls Cross Country Team (one member). Her enthusiasm was a constant puzzle to the kindly and beloved Coach Mac, who had never planned to coach the ladies.

Diana graduated as high school valedictorian, a member of the All-State Orchestra (oboe and English horn), holder of several school sprinting records, and anchor runner of the State Champion 4x400 relay. She enrolled at the University of Kansas where her first move (remember the feisty) was to walk-on to the KU track team. After completing the first semester, she realized that the track team schedule was not conducive to a challenging academic major and quietly resigned, though knowing she could compete at the D1 level. The coach thanked Diana for raising the team GPA during her tenure.

During college, Diana spent a semester studying at the University of Copenhagen and visited the Soviet Union and East Germany. She also spent time staying with family in Herning, Denmark, keeping up a tradition of visits between the Danish and US branches of her Mom's family.

After studying for her degree in Computer Science, Diana was hired into her first grown-up job by EDS (Electronic Data Systems), a once proud brand that no longer exists. EDS was sweeping the country, hiring high achievers given to hard work who were willing to jump into a fast-moving industry. This job gave Diana entry into a rapidly emerging field, and she calmly planned to one day run the company (see feisty reference).

Diana's first assignment was in Mahwah, NJ, (feel free to check maps) on the Western Union account. Diana was very excited to live just outside of New York City and experience all that big city glamour. Upon arrival at Mahwah, Diana met a short guy with a mustache and an earnest expression (that would be Kim L. Weatherford) who would become the love of her life - just not right away.

Kim recalls meeting Diana on her first day at work and in his own, modest words, being "very impressive and exceedingly clever". He had never seen a Prairie Woman before, but he had been raised by Strong Southern Women, so he recognized the type.

Diana vaguely recalls, two weeks later, meeting a guy at church who insisted they worked on the same team.

After a phase of working very hard for EDS and experiencing NYC as often as possible, Diana was transferred to Dallas, which became home for the rest of her life. Since that short fellow with the earnest expression was also transferred, she took it as a sign of the inevitable and married the guy on September 2, 1989.

In July 1997, their first daughter, Emma Jane, was born as a native Texan. After completing maternity leave and declining an invitation to take on a new project at EDS, Diana decided to change her goal of leading the company to a second chapter of life as a mother. Characteristically, Diana poured all of her feisty into this new role, which quickly expanded with the arrival of second daughter, Abby Caroline, in December 1998. Her job included managing home, children, and education, as well as all HQ tasks required to support a Road Warrior husband. Diana loved this chapter.

During this chapter, Diana became especially involved with the girls' school, Coram Deo Academy (CDA), and helped to found the Band Booster Organization and the donor structure that continues to fund equipment and projects. Her tenure as a youth soccer coach was short but memorable ("Just keep the girls running in the same direction"). She also managed many of the annual "Gatlin Get Togethers" for her family, which required planning and diplomatic skills and, on occasion, negotiation with local law enforcement.

With the girls firmly planted in college, it was time for the third chapter. Finding the feisty bucket still full, she turned her attention to working with nonprofits for donor and financial management. In this capacity, she worked at CDA and became treasurer at "Straw to Bread", a partnership between Christian believers in the US and the Nyakach Plateau in western Kenya to provide education, medical care, and love to the poorest of the poor.

It was during a trip to Kenya, in the spring of 2022, to meet these dear people in person, that Diana experienced the symptoms of the terrible disease that would eventually take her life. After roaming through a few medical specialties, she found a definite diagnosis - ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).

With usual feistiness and strong faith in Almighty God, Diana chose to truly live with the disease. She continued to take exercise and yoga classes, run a book club, help to lead a Sunday School class for young Christian women, and maintain her role at Straw to Bread. Oh, and she also took an Alaska cruise and toured the Northwest with her husband, then visited the 4 remaining states on her travel list, with daughter Abby as co-pilot and chief of staff. Diana also managed to take part in three clinical trials for potential ALS treatments.

As the disease advanced, Diana never willingly gave ground but never lost her good humor or strong spirit. She declared herself "declining daily but greatly blessed". She is the example of a woman who loved the Lord, loved her neighbors, and fiercely served her family.

The family is grateful to Dr. Heitzman, Amanda, Victoria, and Stephanie at Texas Neurology, as well as the entire ALS Clinic team. The care from the Hospice team of Kelsey, Yonnie, and Daymon was a true blessing. We thank all the family and friends who prayed for us, helped us, and loved us.



We now look ahead to that great day in Heaven when we stand together again in the presence of Almighty God.