Diane Elaine (Kienzle) Smith
May 22, 1943 - June 16, 2025

Diane grew up in the Bloomingdale Neighborhood on Huffman Street in Ft. Wayne. To make friends with the new family that had just moved in, Diane struck one of the boys with a handful of rocks. Little did those two know, it would be the beginning of a lifelong friendship. That neighbor boy (Gene), turned young man, turned sweetheart, turned spouse of 56 years!

Diane was a wife, mom, grandma, & great grandma. She graduated from North Side High School and from Ball State Teachers College with a degree in physical education. Later, getting her master's from Saint Francis. She was a teacher in Bluffton before setting that aside to become a mom.

Diane was an avid sports girl. Always wanting to learn a new sport and teach others how to play. One of mom's lines was, "If you're going to play, you're going to play right and practice, practice, practice!" Up until last summer, Diane was always up for hitting tennis balls at one of the local courts that had a beat board - practice before playing, of course!

Diane enjoyed sneaking ice cream (later claiming she didn't know how her numbers jumped so high when she was just snacking on healthy veggies), a good burger, garlic chicken wings, Coney dogs...basically, any meal she didn't have to make and clean up! She loved her kids, especially loved her grandkids, and was over the moon to see her three great grand kids.

Diane was preceded in death by her husband (rock recipient) Gene; brothers Dean Kienzle, Steve Kienzle, and Jimmy Kienzle.

She is survived by son, Donald Smith; daughter, Julie (Luke) Lengerich; grandson, Ryan Smith; granddaughter, Danielle (Zach) Rudolph; granddaughter, Kaitlyn (Nate) Garstka; great grandsons, Jacob Rudolph and Benjamin Garstka; great granddaughter, Charlotte Rudolph; forever daughter-in-law, Stephanie Kohrman; brother Terry (Sue) Kienzle, sister, Judy (Bob) Burns, her German daughter Yvonne (Christian) lttenbach, and a host of nieces and nephews.
Funeral services for Diane will be held on Friday June 20, 2025 at 1:00pm with visitation beginning 2 hours prior at 11:00 am, all at FairHaven Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 6557 N, Clinton St. Burial will take place at St John's Lutheran Cemetery on Engle Road.
The family would like to thank Heartland Hospice for their amazing and kind nursing staff and care team that was available to mom. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations and/or memorials to be made to Heartland Hospice (2720 Dupont Commerce Court, Fort Wayne, IN 46825).