Diana “Di” Lynn (Fields) Ghilardi
March 14, 1945 – February 1, 2024
To know her is to love her
Diana “Di” Lynn Ghilardi-78 of Huntley Illinois, passed away on Thursday February 1st, 2024.
Diana was born on March 14th, 1945, in Martinsburg West Virginia, to Private Raymond Fields and Helen Fields. Shortly thereafter, her family returned to Indiana where Diana was raised. She moved to the big city of Chicago, following her marriage to the love of her life Ronald G. Ghilardi on July 7th, 1973. They raised their family in River Forest, Illinois and after retiring, moved to Huntley, Illinois (Sun City Retirement Community). They celebrated 50 years of marriage together with their family this last July. They had a beautiful love story.
Diana is survived by her beloved husband Ron and two daughters Lynne (Brian Dunham) of Superior, Colorado and Laura (Michael Prestler) of Carpentersville, Illinois; her two stepsons Paul Ghilardi (Donna) of Chicago, Illinois and David Ghilardi (Judith) of Concord, California; her five grandchildren Samuel (Amanda) Ghilardi, Michael “Mikey” Prestler, Mateo Dunham, Isabel “Isa” Dunham and Madison “Maddie” Prestler; and her siblings brother Michael “Mike” Fields (Mary) Geneva, Indiana and sister Patty “Pat” Landers (Tom) Fort Wayne, Indiana.
She is preceded in death by her loving parents, her brother Williams Fields and her sister Sally Fields.
Diana graduated from nursing school in 1966 and spent her life helping take care of others. She started as an orthopedic surgical nurse in Fort Wayne, IN. Upon moving to Chicago, she worked with medical claims at Blue Cross Blue Shield and while she learned a lot in that role, her heart yearned for nursing. She returned to nursing as a night nurse at Gottlieb Hospital, prior to taking a few years off to raise her girls. Once the girls were both in school, Diana worked for a family practice in Oak Park for many years where she spent most of her career. Following the family practice, she worked at an eye clinic in Oak Park, where she helped the clinic obtain State and Medicare accreditation. Her final position prior to retirement brought her back to surgery at an Ambulatory Surgery Center in Elmhurst.
Diana’s talents were many. She was an extremely accomplished seamstress and made many of her children and grand children’s clothes including graduation, wedding and baptismal gowns, blankets and costumes. She absolutely loved music and played the clarinet for close to 60 years with different music organizations including her church contemporary groups, the Sun City Concert Band, and the Fort Wayne Orchestra. She loved to host friends and family and put on the most beautiful dinner parties. She was also a wonderful decorator and had a knack for creating beautiful pieces for their home. Diana was also an avid reader, enjoyed puzzling, traveling, and participated in several neighbor groups after retirement included bunco, cards, ladies lunch groups and dominos.
Diana especially enjoyed volunteering and giving her time to others. She truly had a heart of gold. When her girls were growing up, she poured herself into volunteering for their events and various activities. Her many volunteer roles included room mom, girl scout leader, PTO president, band mom and dance mom. She even attended both of her girl’s 8th grade Washington DC trips as the “nurse.” You name it and she helped with it. After her girls were older and she retired, she continued to volunteer as the neighborhood treasurer and representative, Vice President of the sun city concert band, several church committees (decorating committee, funeral lunch committee, prayer committee and prayer shawl committee), the Sun City grandparents club and eventually became a certified emergency responder with Huntley CERT team.
Above all – she was a loving mother and “nana” to her grandchildren. She attended her grandkids baptisms across the country, baseball games, and choir / band concerts – among other special events. She flew out to Colorado to help with the birth of her granddaughter and helped care for one of her grandsons up until he started kindergarten. She often helped with running grandkids to events and daycare pickups. She made sure her family was always celebrated and felt special.
She was a fighter-she battled a rare neurological disorder otherwise known at Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Disorder (PSP). She fought for over six years with Ron by her side every step of the way. Her family surrounded her with love and laughter. Our love for her will live on forever in our memories and in our hearts. She was a shining light in our lives and will be missed. She leaves an amazing legacy behind.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, February 17, 2024 from 12 Noon until the time of the 1pm Mass all at St. Mary Church-10307 Dundee Road, Huntley. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to CURE PSP
For further information please contact the funeral home at 847-515-8772 or online condolences may be directed to www.defiorefuneral.com
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Diana was a one of a kind gal. Her family and her church were top on the list. I knew Diana from St. Luke Parish. I was in the choir with her and her girls were in my youth group. She was so giving of her family, home and heart.❤️
Ron and Family, Diana was a graduate of the Columbia City (IN) Joint High School, Class of 1963. She was a member of the Golden Eagle Concert & Marching Bands all four years. She was a gifted/enthusiastic member of all of her academic and activities during her 9/59-5/63 career at CCJHS. For those of us that shared many classes and band activities, we enjoyed living these moments with her. Her memory will live on.