Dear friends and relatives,
Diane Elaine (Hamm) Eastman, aged 83, married to the same man for 60 years, passed peacefully from this place to some better one where her cancer is gone, at 1:05 PM, December 20, 2025. In her last minutes, she was with her best running/hiking friend of Peru and Patagonia and Galapagos, other friends, our nurse, and me.
Though not the outcome we wished and prayed for, she was in no pain and was in our garden room, her happy place. Jennifer and I wound a light string around the backyard for her to see, and we had stars projected on the ceiling. Chuck and Eileen brought a TV and set it up last weekend, and we had Christmas music nonstop.
Many of you came to see her in the skilled nursing facility, and here, and we value each and every one of you for showing how much you loved Diane. We have been blessed by flowers and dozens of cards wishing the best.
Diane was a remarkable woman, often self-effacing about her abilities, but willing to try about anything that came along. She was happy to spend 11 of our first 13 years of marriage putting hubby through (We called it the PHT), moving from New England to Texas, then to California as I followed my educational career.
She grew to be a wonderful manager, eventually as Director of Facilities and Operations at USC’s computer center. And this from someone who had limited technical background, but a good eye for the managers who did.
Diane started running for fitness while we were in Dallas, and once on the West Coast met with others similarly inclined. They called themselves the “out to lunch bunch” and were together for the better part of 20 years. Along the way Diane was encouraged to run a few short races by her friend Shiela and the rest is history. Those short races turned into marathons, then ultra-marathons, and Diane did her best to win something in almost all of them.
Diane’s first 100-miler, the Angeles Crest 100 could have been a disaster. She turned up hypothermic at the west end of Baden Powell, and collapsed into a chair. We revived her with blankets and soup, but worried that her race might be over. We underestimated the Iron Lady. Not only did she revive, she went on to be the women’s winner. Many other successes followed, with the culmination at the Vermont 100 in 1993. Diane was fourth woman overall, and set an over-50 course record which stood for well over a decade. We had friends and relatives in the crew, and shared the day with smiles and cheers. In 1993 she garnered an honorable mention in Runner’s World magazine for setting personal bests at all distances from 5K to 100 miles! You might know that most runners specialize at one or two distances. Not Diane!
Diane and her friend Julie shared three ultra-adventures to Peru and Patagonia, multi-day events with horses carrying the gear as they ran, sometimes at altitudes three miles high. She also did a week-long Sierra hike with friends Tony and Liz.
We traveled to Bordeau twice to do the Medoc marathon, with travel around with Chuck an Eileen as well. We rented a barge with our friends Dianne and Hans and another couple, running our own locks as we traveled the rivers.
Diane was a long-time volunteer at the Seal Beach Animal shelter, walking dogs and working with the staff in the cat house.
Starting with a teardrop trailer and finally, last year, progressing to a new RV, we camped across country more than a dozen times, usually ending up at the Cape Cod house, which my sister and I inherited from my parents. Last year, we had planned to visit the Blueridge Parkway, but Hurricane Helene had other ideas, and we spent three water-logged days driving across Tennessee.
We’ve had no lack of adventures, but we had hoped to take a couple of months next spring to fill in some blanks.
The hospice folks offered information on “researchforlife.org” and we intend for Diane, even in death, to make a contribution to medical knowledge. I think she would agree.
I am embarking on an entirely new part of life, without my compass. I expect things will be out of sorts for a while. But Diane would want me to continue all our friendships and activities, and I intend to do so. Your love and friendship will see me through the difficult times ahead.
And so, Diane’s physical body has been taken away, but her spirit will live in this house and in me forever.
