Dianne Schuetz

Dianne Schuetz, 71, of Smithville, MO formerly of Excelsior Springs, MO passed away, Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at her home.

Dianne Schuetz took up bird watching in the past few years. Her husband, Ken, was an expert on birds—or at least as close to one as she might hope to know. Over the years, he’d taught her to hear the rich whistle of the Baltimore Oriole, the distinctive tones of a Chickadee. In return, Dianne taught Ken about trees: blue ash, sugarberry, silver maple. The more gnarled and ailing, the more interesting—as if they could tell a story. “Even in the winter, your mom has a special love for trees,” Ken would tell their sons. “We look for life in nature. God’s nature.”

As Dianne and Ken grew older, true to their simple character, they rarely ventured far on their quests, preferring instead each other’s company on the patio at their home in Smithville. There, they admired the cottonwoods and oaks, collected feathers that had fallen off visiting birds. They chatted, reminisced, remembered.

After being diagnosed with a reoccurrence of melanoma this spring, Dianne Schuetz died May 7 in her bedroom, surrounded by her family. She was 71.

The daughter of Oscar and Gloria Schaefer, she was born in San Diego, California, on Sept. 5, 1942, the eldest—and only girl—of four children. She moved to Wellington, Kansas, as a child and was a Midwestern woman through-and-through. Generous, tough, polite, unmovable. Her life would be a roadmap for her children and her grandchildren, her Christian faith and her humility the guiding principles of her life. Anyone who knew her understood Dianne’s quiet humor, her wit; the way she could carry on a conversation and make her guests feel as if they were the most important people in her world. With a folksy farm twang barely concealed in her voice, she was, at heart, perhaps the most genuine woman you had ever met.

In 1962, she met Ken while the two attended Fort Hays State University. They married the next year. The couple had three sons, Greg, Jeff and Todd. Dianne graduated from Fort Hays State in 1966, with a degree in education, then moved to Holdrege, Nebraska, and then to Excelsior Springs, where she taught language arts at Excelsior Springs High School for more than two decades. Over the years she was anchor for her family as Ken traveled frequently for work. She was a constant in her sons’ lives, shuttling her boys to swim lessons, to Little League games, to Boy Scout camps.

As her children moved away to start their own lives, each was mindful to keep their mother at the heart of their budding families. Dianne loved football Sundays with her sons and grandchildren, could rattle off the names of even the most obscure player, tell you the young man’s life story. She’d tailgate outside Arrowhead Stadium or pop on the television in one of her son’s family rooms, then hide behind the couch as the game’s pivotal play developed on the screen on the other side. After yet another loss, she’d mumble, “Stupid Chiefs.” By the next weekend, though, all was forgotten.

She was a voracious reader on anything concerning the Chiefs, the Kansas City Royals or the University of Kansas men’s basketball team. During summers, she’d go with family to the Lake of the Ozarks or poke around at neighborhood garage sales. She traveled often with her brothers and their wives. When her granddaughter Kaela finally turned 21, the pair snuck off to a vineyard to sip wine together, a tradition they kept over the years. Almost every week, you could find Dianne volunteering at one of the local churches.

After retiring and later moving from Excelsior Springs to Smithville in 2011, she became a member of Good Shepherd Catholic Church. She also was a pastoral associate for the St. James Parish in Liberty and at St. Gabriel’s Parish in North Kansas City. In the face of innumerable odds, she chose to accept her cancer diagnosis and adopted the Serenity Prayer as a touchstone for the final months of her life. As her health failed, she confided in her children that the only legacy she’d wanted was one in which everyone knew how much she was loved.

Her sons got to prove it earlier this spring. During this past Christmas, they’d taken a family picture—the boys, their wives, their children, along with Ken and Dianne. In April, Dianne’s sons finally mounted and framed the massive photo, hung it above her fireplace, then brought her into the family room to see it. She looked at the picture and tears began to stream down her cheeks. “That’s all that matters,” she told her boys. “Family. That means everything to me.”

Survivors include her husband, Ken; her children, Greg Schuetz and wife Gail, Jeff Schuetz and wife Lori, and Todd Schuetz and wife Laura; grandchildren, Anna, Emily, Kaela, Katie, Lydia, Noah, Ryan, Shaefer and Taylor; brothers, Steve Schaefer and wife Lynn, Mike Schaefer and wife Sue, and Allen Schaefer and wife Weirong.

Following her wishes, Dianne was cremated. Some of her ashes will be spread this summer in Israel. Visitation will be 2 p.m. on May 25 at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 18601 N. Highway 169, Smithville, with a vigil service at 3:30 p.m.