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Dianne Clancy Obituary – 9/17/2017


Dianne Ludene (Lange) Clancy, age 83, of Waconia, passed away Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, at St. Mary’s Care Center in Winsted.

Her funeral service will be Saturday, Sept. 23 at 11 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Waconia with the Rev. Dave Erbel officiating. Interment will be at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Waconia.

There will be visitation Friday, Sept. 22 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Johnson Funeral Home in Waconia, continuing Saturday at the church, one hour prior to the service.

Casket bearers are Tom Bleichner, Jeremy Jacobsen, Christopher Fuhrman, Jeff Fuhrman, Steven Olmen, Todd Luke, and Greg Luke.

The Johnson Funeral Home in Waconia is handling the arrangements.

Dianne was born March 10, 1934, at home in Camden Township, to Erwin and Florence (nee Ross) Lange. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Germany. Her confirmation memory verse was “Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.” This Bible verse served her well throughout her life as she was a firm believer in the power of prayer and was committed to her Lord Jesus.

Dianne was the second of four sisters. All four, Lorraine, Marilyn, Lavern, and Dianne, had the gift of beautiful voices and a love of music. They would sing together in harmony to the delight of all who heard them. Dianne enjoyed all genres of music, but especially old time music.

Dianne grew up in the Lester Prairie/New Germany area, and graduated from Central High School in Norwood Young America in 1952. After graduation, she briefly moved to Seattle, WA, where she worked as a nanny and as a secretary.

She returned to Minnesota in 1953, where she met ”Jim” Clancy. After a whirlwind courtship, they were married Jan. 2, 1954, at the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashua, IA. The marriage was blessed with four children, Colleen, Deborah, Sandra, and James. When Jim passed away in 1996, the couple had shared 42 years of marriage.

Throughout her life, Dianne held many different jobs including assembly worker at Tonka Toys, selling hearing aids, selling Avon, daycare provider, driving taxi, cleaning homes, and as a caregiver through Carver County.

She always felt that her most important role was as a wife and mother, and was overjoyed when she became a grandmother. Dianne was devoted to her eight grandchildren and seven (soon to be eight) great-grandchildren. Her home was filled with pictures of all of them, and she looked forward to attending all of the activities they were involved in.

Holidays were especially important to Dianne. She loved having everyone come home to wonderful meals and to make family memories. These family gatherings provided her with the opportunity to take pictures, and she loved taking them, so part of her legacy is hundreds and hundreds of photos.

A strong-willed and determined woman, Dianne led by example, demonstrating her trust in the Lord and how important He was in her life.

In addition to her husband, Jim, Dianne was preceded in death by a daughter, Deborah; sisters and brothers-in-law LaVerne and Bob Luke; Mel Luke, Dick Olmen, Elvin Shultis, and Howard Clancy; and a sister-in-law, Geraldine.

She is survived by her loving family: daughters and sons-in-law Colleen and Neil Dummer of Mayer, and Sandra and Jeff Fuhrman of Cologne; son and daughter-in-law James and Tracy Clancy of Jordan; grandchildren Tom Bleichner, Jennifer (Chilo) Gomez, Jessica Hooey, Jeremy Jacobsen, Jamie Kantorwicz, Jason Kuglin, Christopher Fuhrman, Katherine Fuhrman and special friend Matt Cardinal, Joshua Clancy, and Madeline Clancy; and great-grandchildren Devin Bleichner, Lauren Dropps, Miguel Gomez, Millia and Kenya Brown, Norman Kantorwicz, and Paisley Fuhrman.

Dianne is further survived by sisters Lorraine Luke of Park Rapids, and Marilyn Olmen of Eagan; sisters-in-law Peg Shultis of Utah, and Shirley Becker of New York; nieces; nephews; and other relatives and friends.

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