Diane Marie Horan's Obituary
Diane Marie Horan (nee Arena) passed away on February 28, 2025, after a valiant battle against pancreatic cancer. She was born and raised outside of Rochester, in Honeoye Falls, NY, where she cultivated a love of art and nature—particularly animals and the water—that stayed with her throughout her life.
For many years, she would unwind by rollerblading the outdoor bike trail along the Farmington Canal in her adopted home of Cheshire, CT. Later, she took up stand-up paddle boarding and particularly loved tackling the Pacific waves in San Diego, CA. An avid gardener and strong swimmer, she was most at peace on a sunny day in her yard tending plants, walking her dog Charlie, or spending time at the beach—from Maui to San Diego to Delaware’s beaches, Connecticut’s Long Island Sound, to Mixville Pond in Cheshire—if there was sand and even a hint of waves, she was content.
Our Mom was also a voracious reader, a passion that she cultivated and shared with us through weekly trips to the public library, particularly during the summer school break. She felt strongly that reading widely and deeply was one of the best ways to explore the wider world and to cultivate tolerance, open-mindedness, and curiosity.
Education was an important part of her life. She earned her undergraduate degree from St. John Fisher’s College (now University) in Rochester, NY. She met her husband working with emotionally disturbed children at High Meadows in Hamden, CT. She earned Master of Science and advanced studies degrees from Southern Connecticut State University while running a home daycare and raising three boys and went on to earn a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Hartford in 2009, while working full-time. This hard work and specialized training led her to a fulfilling career as a school psychologist that positively impacted the lives of countless families and children in public schools in Connecticut and Delaware.
For those unfamiliar, school psychologists serve a critical role in ensuring that students of all ages, temperaments, and capabilities have an opportunity to succeed. They are specially trained professionals who work to understand the challenges kids may be facing, serve as a resource for teachers and families, and ultimately are critical to ensuring supportive learning environments.
It was the perfect role for Mom—not the loudest or flashiest, but one of real, positive impact both for individual kids and their families, and for the larger school community. She cherished the work, especially the kids, and she was still working (virtually) up until only a few weeks before she passed.
Mom was fiercely independent right up to the end. She didn’t seek public accolades or other people’s approval. Her good work stood on its own, she led by example, and instilled values that each of us seek to live by as we raise our own families—hard work, independence, tolerance, open-mindedness, and curiosity. We will all miss her dearly.
She is survived by her former husband and three sons, their families, her mother, brother, and nephews and nieces, both biological and adopted over the years.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the following organizations:
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA): https://www.aspca.org/donate
Autism Speaks: https://www.autismspeaks.org/donate.
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP): https://www.nasponline.org/
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: https://www.pancan.org/donate/
Private family memorials are being arranged.
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