Diana C. White

My mother, Diana C. White, passed from this world to the next one Tuesday, April 21, 2026. She leaves a legacy of love and creativity that everyone with whom she spent time could feel. A few paragraphs cannot do her life justice, but having many people who knew her, as well as those who did not, reflect on her life as you read them here adds to her impact.

She was born in Charlotte, NC, December 8, 1936. Her mother, Kitty, was a huge impact on her life. Kitty had gone to college and had a job in the elections office of Mecklenburg County when most women stayed home and raised children. Mom followed that lead and never looked back! She went to Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, but did not graduate as she had her son, Reid, during that time. Two years later she welcomed her daughter, Kay. She shared with her children her love of words, literature, creativity, color and art in so many forms. She celebrated our successes as we navigated our own journeys to professional careers.

She was constantly creating art, in many different media: Words, poems and potential books (many started but none fully completed); sketches and drawings; paintings; pottery; crochet; and quilting. Her quilts are loved treasures by anyone who received one.

Later in life, she finished her own educational path, getting her Masters in Education from Georgia State College. She found her true calling in teaching, focusing on bringing out the art and creativity in severely emotionally disturbed children for over 30 years in DeKalb County, GA. She saw such special gifts in those children that so many others could not see and had given up on. So many of those children were able to move through those difficult times and gave mom credit for her love for and belief in them as keys to their success. Her powerful contributions to these children’s lives were recognized by her receiving the DeKalb County Teacher of the Year Award in 1999.

Before moving to Bristol to be with her family and allowing others to help her, she spent several years giving so much of herself to caring for Kitty at the end of her life. Then she did the same for her sister, Cathy, after her stroke until her death. Most recently she made sure her husband, Ivan, was in their home during his final months, coordinating all of his care. She did all of this on her own at a time when so many her age need care themselves. She told Reid the night before she died how special those people were and how honored she had been to be there for them during the end of their lives. Reid was blessed to have a good conversation with her that evening about her “full and wonderful life” – some of her last words. That visit, she shared with him her delight in colors, shapes and textures all around her, hinting at an amazing reality she could see but he could not. Her sense of gratitude and her smile that night are powerful beacons of how to live life fully to the end.

Alex and Reid are so thankful to the wonderful people at Oakmont Assisted Living. LeAnn Rose and her staff welcomed mom lovingly three years ago and helped make Oakmont mom’s home. She loved it there.

Diana is lovingly remembered by her son, Reid Blackwelder, and his wife, Linda “Alex” Alexander, whom she frequently called (correctly) Reid’s “best decision ever” in Bristol, VA; her daughter, Kay Blackwelder, in Knoxville, TN; her son and daughter-in-law, Don and JoAnn White, in Travelers Rest, SC; and Sassy the squirrel, with whom she had many conversations over sunflower seeds, in Chamblee, GA. 

She will have a celebration of life on Reid and Alex’s mountain in the near future. If you are inclined, please send gifts in her memory to For Pete’s Sake Animal Rescue: https://forpetessakerescue.com/about/  or to Bristol Head Start: https://www.peopleinc.net/donate/