Dianne C. Oehms

Dianne C. Oehms, beloved mother of Windi Carol Oehms, passed away peacefully on January 1, 2023 shortly after ringing in the new year with Windi and Douglas Paul Wood at their home in Centreville, VA, which Dianne referred to as “The Family Home.”

Dianne was born on March 28, 1949 as Dianne Carol Denlinger, but Dianne was the sort of person who collected nicknames and friends wherever she went. Dianne spent her years in early primary [elementary] school in Richmond, VA, elementary school at The Hill School in Middleburg, VA, 7th – 10th grades at Flint Hill Prep in Oakton, VA, and then chose to transfer to Woodson High School in Fairfax, VA for 11th-12th grades. She loved to ride horses in Middleburg, belonging to the same hunt club as the Kennedys and riding in groups with Jackie and often Caroline Kennedy. She also loved to listen to music, dance, and get into “good” trouble with her friends, especially MaryAnne, her best friend since Flint Hill Prep. Through her teenage and adulthood years, she was variously known by her friends as Dee Dee or Dee, and sometimes Di, while using Dianne for more recent friends. Even whether or not her middle name “Carol” should have been spelled with one “r” or two remains a mystery for her loved ones to enjoy debating today as there is a family story about the spelling and her records vary.

After graduating from Woodson High School in 1967, she and MaryAnne were at a bar in DC when Dianne met Glenn Edward Oehms. Glenn was in the Army Special Forces training in DC. In short order, as was common before soldiers were sent to Vietnam, they married, he finished his training, and she gave birth to her only daughter days before her new husband had to leave for Vietnam as a Green Beret. Glenn and Dee lived in Panama during some early years and later in the area of Biloxi, MS, Glenn’s hometown.

When she and Glenn separated, and later divorced, Dee and Windi moved back to her hometown of Fairfax, VA when Windi was eight years old and Dianne devoted herself to raising Windi as a single mom. Dianne and Glenn remained close friends and later also become close with Glenn’s wife, Dixie Elise Hickman. All three collectively supported Windi through the years and spent special occasions together including Windi’s graduations and many Christmases.

While Windi was away at college, Dianne began to spread her wings and became a social butterfly, actively attending DC social events, belonging to a private women’s club called The Croquet Society which hosted numerous elite parties, joining an extensive group of friends who shared numerous beach houses and hosted parties together at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and participating in alumni association events for both Flint Hill and Woodson HS. Dianne was able to realize two of her dreams which were to own a convertible and to own and live in a home in Old Town Alexandria, VA. She ultimately moved to Marietta, GA for six years to be with her partner. He and Dianne actively participated in the New Neighbors League Club of Peachtree City (NNLC), making many friends for socializing and holding parties. After returning to live in her Old Town Alexandria home for the remainder of her life, she remained close with multiple friends from Georgia, from both Flint Hill and Woodson HS, and especially MaryAnne. Dianne passed her love of horseback riding, learning, gourmet cooking, party hosting and decorating, traveling, beach vacationing, antiquing, loving animals, and community building on to her daughter through her strong example. Dianne’s gardening skills and green thumb were not inherited by Windi.

Dianne loved current events, watching the news, watching movie/TV shows, eating out at restaurants, dancing, and listening to music. Her favorite song was the 1967 hit “Windy” by The Association, which inspired her to name her daughter after the song with a creative change in the spelling from Windy to Windi. Her other most favorite song was “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by English rock band Procol Harum, which she first heard in 1967 on the juke box at the drug store [pharmacy] in Paris, France, heard it played every day being sung in French during her month in France, and later heard sung in English when back in the U.S.

Dianne listed her other favorite bands as: Moody Blues, The Beatles, The Admirals, The Andrews Sisters, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The 3 Tenors, The Four Seasons, The Platters, The Everly Brothers, Oak Ridge Boys, The Drifters, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, The Carpenters, The Dave Clark Five, The Doors, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Simon and Garfunkel, The Animals, The Four Jewels, The Mamas & the Papas, The Byrds, Peter Paul & Mary, and Five Satins who sang In the Still of the Night.

Dianne listed her other favorite songs as: Rhapsody in Blue, Moon River, Pretty Woman, Jesus Christ Superstar, Old Man River, Unchained Melody, Winter, The Rose, Wind Beneath My Wings, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Tommy Can You Hear Me. Everything is Beautiful, From A Distance, Chantilly Lace, Sea of Love, Oh What A Night, Ring of Fire, The House of the Rising Sun, In the Still of the Night, A Thousand Stars in the Sky, Blue Suede Shoes, and song by The Doors: especially Light My Fire, Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me Your Name? and People Are Strange and also other favorites: Touch Me, Riders On the Storm, Break On Through To the Other Side, and Love Her Madly. She also liked Bruce Springsteen’s song, Born in the USA, the Big Band Music of Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, etc., and also some local musicians.

Dianne loved everything about Christmas, including live Noble Fir trees, decorating with garland, and giving specially selected gifts and Christmas cards. Her favorite Christmas movies were “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Story,” and “Miracle on 34th Street.” She loved Elvis Presley Christmas music along with classics by Dean Martin, Tony Bennet, Frank Sinatra, etc. She was able to leave the hospital and spend her last Christmas with Windi and Doug at their home.

During her lifetime, she also traveled to Warm Springs/Savannah/coastal areas in GA, South Beach (Miami) in FL, Mississippi, New Orleans, Louisiana, Washington DC, Myrtle Beach in SC, Freeland in NC to visit her maternal grandparents, San Francisco in CA, New York City, France, Italy, Grand Bahamas Vancouver Mainland and Vancouver/Victoria/Salt Spring Islands in British Columbia, Canada, Seattle and Bainbridge Island, WA, the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, St. Kitts and Nevis Islands in the Caribbean, Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands and St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Dianne was a 2004 Late Stage 3C Breast Cancer survivor and cancer-free until a very recent mid-December 2022 diagnosis of an independent Stage-IV metastatic lung cancer. She expressed pain, but faced the news bravely with the support of family and friends.

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at 2:00pm on January 6, 2023 at Money and King Funeral Home at 171 Maple Ave. W, Vienna, VA, and officiated by Glenn’s wife, Windi’s stepmother, Dixie.

Following, Dianne’s best friend MaryAnne and Mark Gore, and their family will host a celebration reception at their home, which is located close to the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider supporting causes Dianne felt a strong connection to, such as to Dianne’s St. Jude Memorial Fund page https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/GiftFunds/GiftFunds?px=7837445&pg=personal&fr_id=39300

or a memorial donation for Dianne to Sprout Therapeutic Riding making it possible for disabled people to experience therapeutic horseback riding in the Aldie/Middleburg area https://donate.onecause.com/sprout/donate.

For additional info. on Sprout, you can watch their inspiring video at https://youtu.be/ECzDur78r-k and use this link for general information on the organization http://sproutcenter.org/about/

Thank you for helping to celebrate Dianne’s life.