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Diane Margaret Palan (Steffen), age 82, passed away peacefully on Nov. 3 at Spirit Mountain Hospice House in Cody, Wyoming.
Diane was born Feb 15, 1943 in Newark, New York, where she grew up and graduated from Newark High School with honors in 1960. She is the daughter of Orville Collier and Margaret VerHeecke Collier.
She worked as a secretary/bookkeeper at Margroves Dairy in Newark then at Xerox Corporation, starting in 1964 until 1971.
Diane married James Richard Steffen on June 15, 1968. The two visited Wyoming and decided to move out west to fulfill a dream of owning a ranch. The two, along with their son Christopher Steffen, moved to Frannie, Wyoming, in 1971. Daughter Angela Steffen (Garcia) was born and joined the family in 1981 and the family lived there for about 20 years.
Diane started a job at Northwest College in 1977 and worked there for more than 30 years. After retiring as a full-time employee in the administration office, Diane returned to work several part time jobs at NWC in the bookstore and switchboard/mailroom. She loved working at the college and made many dear friends throughout the years. Diane retired completely from NWC in December of 2020.
Diane and William Palan were married in 1992. The two moved to Powell off the Willwood Highway, where they enjoyed having a huge garden that they were so proud of and tinkering around the property. Diane loved animals, with her favorite being cats. Beyond the ones that she had as pets, she would end up having many strays show up at the house and she could never let them go hungry. She spayed them and fed them all. She was jokingly the “crazy cat lady of Road 8!” Diane also loved to cook and bake, and was amazing at both. Diane was so proud of her grandkids and loved to hear about everything going on in their lives. She was caring, loving and kind to everyone she met. Diane is survived by her husband William Palan, son Christopher Steffen (Andrea) of Green River, Wyoming, daughter Angela Garcia (Jay) of Robert Lee, Texas, sister Karen Collier Weston of Fairport, New York, stepsons Christopher and David Palan, grandkids Easton, Chloe and Claire Steffen and Xavier Garcia, and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Orville and Margert Collier and by James Steffen.
Interment will be at Crown Hill Cemetery in Powell, Wyoming.
A celebration of life will take place at a later date.
