Diane Wilkinson

Diane Daniel Wilkinson, age 78, of Atlanta passed away peacefully on Monday, November 3rd, after a brief struggle with cancer. Mrs. Wilkinson, the former Diane Alice Daniel and "Sissy" to her family, was the daughter of William Gray Daniel and Marian Morris Daniel. She was born on November 14, 1946, and except for brief stints in New York and Frankfurt, Germany, was a life-long resident of Atlanta. She attended Morris Brandon Elementary School and graduated from The Lovett School in 1964. Her Lovett classmates, several of whom were lifelong friends, were especially dear to her. She attended Emory University where she was an active member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

After graduating from Emory, Diane moved to New York and was one of Pan Am's famously glamorous air stewardesses. And thus began a lifetime of adventure. In James Richard "Dick" Wilkinson, Jr, who she met while he was attending Emory University Law School, she found her love and lifelong travel companion. They married in 1969 and immediately moved to Frankfurt, Germany, where Dick was assigned to the US Army Judge Advocate General. They saw that as an opportunity to travel throughout Western Europe, exploring the customs, cultures, and cuisines of each country. This chapter of her life ignited Diane's loves of travel and cooking, passions which she pursued for the rest of her life.

After returning to Atlanta, Diane taught briefly in the Atlanta Public Schools, but her love of French cuisine drew her back to Paris where she used her savings to take a course at Le Cordon Bleu. After returning to Atlanta, she began a new chapter in her life teaching French cooking. Her first courses were French Cuisine I and French Cuisine II which she taught in the small kitchen of their first home. The classes were a big success, and she continued teaching cooking in one way or another for the rest of her life.

Meanwhile, Diane and Dick continued traveling throughout Western Europe. Friends enjoyed hearing about their travels and wanted to share in their adventures. Prompted by these friends, Diane began planning small group trips to Europe. Meticulously planned, these trips included stays at well-known hotels, meals at fine restaurants, cooking demonstrations, and wine tours. Thus began the next chapter in Diane's professional life as a travel agent.

Diane planned trips for couples, for family groups, and for larger groups with a special common interest, such as to the Canyon Ranch wellness resort in Arizona. She especially enjoyed planning trips to unique places because she felt that those experiences best expanded a traveler's world. It meant so much to her that she was able to turn her own passions for food, travel, and adventure into a career of helping others do things that brought them joy and expanded their horizons.

Diane and Dick expanded their personal travels from Europe to countries around the globe. From Madagascar to Burma, Rwanda to Tibet, Iraq to New Zealand, they traveled to countries too numerous to list on every continent, including Antarctica. Diane simply could not stand the thought that she might miss seeing, doing, experiencing, or learning something interesting; or miss the opportunity to come home and tell friends and family about all she had seen. Her greatest fear in life was to be bored or boring and she was certainly never either of those things.

Diane made friends everywhere she went and was a loyal, thoughtful, and attentive friend. A highlight of each trip she took was finding unique gifts for family and friends. Her generosity never failed to surprise and delight. She was generous not just with gifts, but with her time and spirit. There was nothing she would not do for the people she loved. She and Dick also enjoyed connecting people, often by hosting beautiful dinner parties at their home.

As part of her insatiable curiosity and openness, Diane had many hobbies and interests. She took up oil painting as an adult to spend time with her mother, a prolific artist and painting teacher, and enjoyed giving her works to friends and family. She was a founding member of the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames D'Escoffier and a decades-long member of The Optimists stock club. She also attended yoga classes and for many years the Wilkinsons hosted a weekly yoga class in their home. And in recent years she had joined a book club and become an avid reader. She was always eager to try something new and learn something new.

Diane was a life-long Presbyterian, and a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta for most of her life. She had a strong belief in the teachings of her church, and her daily life reflected her faith. She loved all kinds of music, from the celebrated music program at Trinity led by Norman Mackenzie to Andrea Bocelli to Willy Nelson and Bob Dylan (the last concert she attended).

Diane's sparkle, vivaciousness and genuine interest in everyone she met, her fearless sense of adventure, her deep love of family and friends, and her generosity made her a unique and unforgettable friend and family member. Forever young at heart, she was a beloved wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend, and her happy optimistic outlook brightened all of our lives. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her.

Diane was predeceased by her parents, William Gray Daniel and Marian Morris Daniel; and is survived by her husband of 55 years James Richard "Dick" Wilkinson Jr.; her brother William Gray (Billy) Daniel Jr., his wife Meredith Smith Daniel, their daughter Christiana Daniel Hughes, her husband Peter Wetherington Hughes, and their daughter Celia Lee Hughes; her sister Julie Daniel Hope, her husband William Hanna (Bill) Hope II, and their children Hanna Ellen Hope and Daniel Preston Hope; her brother in law Thomas Perry Wilkinson; and her niece Kathleen (Kitty) Wilkinson Ragals, her husband David Charles Ragals, and their children Benjamin (Ben) Holland Ragals and Lily Frances Ragals.

A memorial service for Diane will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3003 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta on Tuesday, November 18th, at 2:00 pm. Gifts in her memory may be directed to Trinity Presbyterian Church.

Wilkinson, Daniel, Diane