Diana L. Wolf, 78

December 31, 2024

Diana L. Wolf, age 78, of Lancaster, died on December 31, 2024.

Raised in Reynolds, Indiana, she was the daughter of the late Merrill and Julia (Bardonner) Wolf.

She was a 1964 graduate of North White High School. She received a BA from Valparaiso University in 1968 and completed two years of work toward a masters degree at Ohio State. She later took classes in accounting, real estate, and hospitality at Northern Virginia Community College. She earned an MA in spiritual and pastoral care from Loyola College in Maryland (now known as Loyola University Maryland) in 1999.

In 1970, she moved to the Washington DC area and worked for the Census Bureau. She then held a variety of different jobs; she worked as a substitute teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools, caterer for La Prima, courier for Reprographic Technologies, election official, and sales associate at Crown Books and Borders Books.

She then moved to Pennsylvania in 2001 and lived, worked, and studied at Pendle Hill, a Quaker study, retreat, and conference center near Philadelphia. From 2002 to 2008, she worked as the manager of the Book Nest at Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center in Bangor, PA.

She moved from Nazareth, PA to Lancaster, PA in May 2023 and enjoyed participating in events held by residents of her apartment building and by the Lancaster Downtowners, attending performances at the Fulton Theatre, shopping at the Central Market, etc.

Active in her community throughout her life, she helped out with her sons’ sports teams and her daughter’s Girl Scout troops; assisted with her children’s school activities; served as an usher at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts; and taught evening classes about cake decorating, bread making, gingerbread house making, etc. for the Recreation & Parks Department of Falls Church, VA. She also sang in the choirs of various churches that she attended over the years, most notably Christ the King Lutheran Church in Great Falls, VA and Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Vienna, VA.

An avid traveler, she spent many summers driving her children and mother across the country, visiting nearly all 50 states as well as Canada with them. A summer mission trip to Estonia in 1995 was particularly memorable for her. She also enjoyed visiting Europe and going to the Christmas markets and museums.

Her hobbies also included gardening (she had quite a green thumb and filled her house and yard with plants), baking (she especially delighted in making German springerle cookies each Christmas), cooking (she loved trying new recipes), and reading (each of her houses was always filled with books).

She enjoyed keeping in touch with her extended family and with the various friends that she made over the years; her single-spaced multi-page Christmas letters were legendary.

She was fiercely opinionated and would likely have had strong opinions about what this obituary should have said, but, in spite of the many health setbacks that she suffered over the years, she kept plowing ahead and making plans for the future; she was such a forceful personality that it’s hard to believe that she’s gone. She will be missed.

She is survived by her daughter, Cynthia Thomes (companion of Dan Petty) of Laurel, MD, and sons Jeffrey Chao (husband of Suzie) of Riehen, Switzerland and Jeremy Chao (husband of Mairead Ridge) of New York, NY, as well as by her grandchildren, Emily, Lucas, and Jason Chao.

In addition to her parents and ex-husband, John Chao, she was preceded in death by her twin siblings, David and Sandra.

In accordance with her wishes, there will not be a public service; her children will hold a private memorial for her.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Katie and Charlie Wolf Endowment fund administered by the Community Foundation of White County, Indiana; see the Donate now button at https://www.cfwhitecounty.org/ways-to-give