Diane Hartman M.D.

Diane Hartman, M.D. passed away on Monday, September 30, 2024. Diane was born on March 19, 1963 in Colorado Springs, Colorado to Alberta and Jim Hartman Jr. Diane grew up in Colorado Springs and moved to Denver to attend College.
Diane loved to play sports growing up and with her athleticism and competitiveness, became quite good in sports. She participated in gymnastics, volleyball and her favorite, basketball. Diane had many setbacks in sports with knee injuries and the subsequent surgeries. The surgeries at the time were more invasive than today's procedures however she recovered through what appeared to be sheer will and perseverance. It's not surprising she had a very successful sporting life through high school. One high point in Diane's sports life was in her sophomore year her team finished in second place in the state high school volleyball championship.
Diane was very goal-driven and once a goal was set, she found a way to attain that goal. In the fourth grade Diane stated her lifetime goal was to be become a doctor. Once she stated her goal, she became an exceptional student as she knew good grades and study habits were going to be required to become a physician. In high school she was inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society for high school students. Diane also ran for student body president and won.
Diane attended college at Denver University where she had a full and rewarding college life. She had a social life with friends from all walks of college life and she joined the sorority of Gamma Phi Beta. As typical in Diane's life, she became the leader of her sorority when became the president of Gamma Phi Beta her junior year. Diane also enjoyed success in college with academics. During one summer she was able to join a study on endocrine supplements to salamanders. Many of Diane's friends and families teased her about her job of providing the salamanders endocrine injections all summer long. However she published the article and she was able to have a peer-reviewed successful research article during her college career. Diane graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science studying chemistry and biology.
In Diane's senior year of high school a new boy transferred into Mitchell High. His name was Tim Wise. Diane and Tim started dating and although Tim attended a different college, they remained dating through four years of college. Tim and Diane stayed together through all of medical school. Upon a residency in Chicago Tim flew in to surprise Diane and propose marriage. Diane said "yes" and they were married. Diane and Tim lived in Denver until their son, Andrew Wise, was born on January 14, 1997.
Diane wanted to become a doctor in the fourth grade and she never waivered from that goal. Most people would have been deterred or changed their sights but not Diane. She attended medical school at Colorado Medical School in Denver. Diane wanted to have a good mix of clinical work and surgical work.
This goal landed Diane in the field of urology – not a typical path for women at the time. When Diane passed her boards and became Board Certified in Urology there were fewer than 100 Board Certified women urologists in the nation. Diane specialized in general urologic surgery, cancer of the kidney, bladder and prostate and doing minimally invasive surgeries with the da Vinci surgical robot. Diane's interest in others' quality of life made her a great clinician with compassion and kindness. In August of 2012 Diane was named a Best Physician of Urology in Colorado, chosen by her peers and featured in 5280 Magazine.
Shortly after residency, Diane accepted she was gay. Tim and Diane had an unwavering devotion to raising Andrew together so they decided each would move to Golden to be near each other and support Andrew. Diane and Tim remained friends through their joint goal of raising Andrew and mutual respect. Shortly after Diane's divorce, Diane met Jim, Jody, Shannon and Alisa who took her in as a daughter and a sister, allowing Andrew and Diane to enjoy unconditional love and support.
It was at this time Jennifer and Treva introduced Diane and Tracy on December 6, 1999 and joined them on a blind date. Tracy was the proprietor of Pearl Street Ice Cream and Deli shop in Denver at this time. They dated and fell in love. They were married in Morrison, Colorado on February 2, 2002. Gay marriage was not legal at this time but Diane and Tracy eventually married legally.
Diane liked to travel with fantastic trips with friends and family to Australia, Hawai'i, Cayman Islands, Costa Rico, Europe and Mexico. Diane and Tracy had a mutual love of fishing. They would hire fly fishing guides each summer to hit the big rivers in the mountain and often would lake fish in Golden Gate State Park and Estes Park, Tracy with her spin-cast setup and Diane with her fly fishing. Diane and Tracy had many fur-babies through their life together and always aimed to have two at a time so the dogs would never be lonely. Diane loved reading, tennis, pickleball (after making fun of it for some time), biking, hiking, sky-diving, skiing, loved theatre, rock painting, writing poems and competing in several marathons, marathons, triathlons, many local races and watching CU women's basketball.
Diane is survived by her wife, Tracy Hagelund, her son, Andrew Wise, her mother, Alberta Hartman, her brother, Jim Hartman III and her adopted family Jim and Jody Applegate and Alisa Vural, as well as many other colleagues, relatives, and many, many friends. In lieu of flowers Diane would have preferred you donate to MAIA Impact which is a program for indigenous Guatemalan girls run by indigenous Guatemalan women: https://www.maiaimpact.org/donate-to-maia/ Diane also supported CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Jefferson and Gilpin Counties: https://www.casajeffcogilpin.com/
There will be a celebration of life Saturday, October 12th at 12:00 Noon at Mile Hi Church at 9077 West Alameda Avenue in Lakewood, Colorado. The celebration will be in the Vogt Center at the church with refreshments and small fare afterwards.