Diane Jean Fleshin

Diane Jean Fleshin died peacefully at home Monday April 20th after a six year battle with Ovarian Cancer. She was born in Ft. Madison, Iowa on September 11, 1954. After graduating high school there, she attended Mary Crest College in Davenport with a BSN in Nursing. She was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the US Army in 1977 and retired after 20 years as a Lieutenant Colonel after a distinguished and decorated career. She became an Adult Nurse Practitioner in the Army in 1981. She studied at Emory University and later San Jose State University with an MSN. Her thesis was on Homeless Veterans. She was inducted into the Order of Military Medical Merit and retired as the Deputy Director of Nursing at Health Services Command. After the military, she worked at Mercy Hospital and retired from there in 2010. She opened a camp for children on her farm in Tipton and taught children to spin wool, knit, crochet, make ceramics, paint, weave, and sew. She was an accomplished fiber artist, winning at the Iowa State Fair multiple years. She loved gardening and kept sheep, angora goats, llamas, mules, and donkeys. She is survived by her son Sam, her husband Rick, her brothers David (Kenna) Fraise, Dennis (Sharon) Fraise and her niece Laura Farley.