Diane Laverne Roth's Obituary
Diane Laverne (Graf) Roth
6/2/1944 - 1/11/2021
Diane Laverne (Graf) Roth passed away peacefully on January 11, 2021 at the age of 76. After a 5 ½ year battle with cancer, she took her last breath at home with her husband, Randy by her side.
She was born to Alfred and Laverne Graf in Eagle Pass, TX , where her father was stationed with the Airforce. At a young age, her family moved to Sacramento where she spent her childhood as the eldest of three daughters. Her younger sisters remember her as classy and stylish, playing hair salon and dying her sister’s hair, much to their mother’s chagrin. Diane’s nurturing qualities were evident in how she looked after her youngest sister and took her responsibility as the eldest sister seriously.
Diane graduated from Westmont College in 1966, where she met her husband Randy. They married shortly after graduating and she went on to pursue a Masters in English from UCLA while Randy attended Fuller Theological Seminary. After a few years in Pasadena, she and Randy moved to Chicago where she taught English at New Trier High School in nearby Winnetka and Randy attended North Park Seminary.
In 1971, Diane and Randy were called to lead West Hills Covenant Church in Portland, OR with the Nordlund family. While in Portland, Diane became the mother of four children and opened her home to several friends that became family along the way. Sixteen years later, she and Randy were called to First Covenant Church in Oakland, CA where she continued to graciously serve others.
Diane took several odd jobs while raising her children including house cleaning, fragrance sales, substitute teaching, and flower arranging. Her resourceful drive, artistic sense, and love of horticulture led her to co-found her own floral design business. She grew to become a sought after wedding florist extraordinaire and created beautiful flower arrangements and bouquets for numerous weddings and events over the years.
As the wife of a pastor for 30 years, Diane shared Christ’s love through her service and hospitality. You could often find her in the church kitchen preparing brunch for the congregation, inviting visitors out to lunch, or hosting Bible studies in her home. Diane spent her mornings in daily devotionals and quiet prayer. She prayed faithfully and ceaselessly for so many over the years, many of whom may not have even known.
Diane had an awareness and exceptional ability to sense the needs of others. She intentionally sought ways to lighten the load or offer practical support to family, friends, and neighbors with meals, flowers, gifts, and encouraging notes. Every gift she gave was intentional and thoughtfully handpicked with the recipient in mind.
Witty, beautiful, hard-working, resilient, creative, intelligent, generous, selfless, servant-hearted, faithful, these are just some of the words that describe Diane and how she will be remembered. Some of her favorite things included: spending time with her family, dark chocolate, gardening, a good Zin, bike riding, crafting, the perfect cappuccino, handwritten cards, baking, cutting out newspaper articles to share with others, travelling, sharing her children and grandchildren’s accomplishments with others, hosting family and friends, and being a constant companion to the love of her life of 54 years.
Diane is survived by her wonderfully devoted husband Randy Roth, her four children and their spouses: Steven Goodwin, David and Jennifer Roth, Katie and Amos Otis, and Chelsea and Christopher Boniak. She was a loving grandmother to her 9 grandchildren and faithful sister to Deborah (and Henry) Skall and Barbara (and Dwight) Filler. She will be missed greatly by her cousins, nephews, nieces, and extended family.
In lieu of gifts or flowers, Diane requested donations be made to the following organizations:
Children Rising
https://children-rising.org/donate
First Covenant Church
https://oaklandfcc.churchcenter.com/giving
First Presbyterian Church
https://www.fpcberkeley.org/give
Arrangements have been entrusted to Chapel of the Chimes Oakland, 4499 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, California 94611.
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