Diane was an incredibly talented person who was ahead of her time. I met her at AT&T Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey in August, 1976. I had just started working at “The Labs,” and Diane was there on a temporary work assignment break from her Ph.D. studies at Stanford University. When she returned to Bell Labs the following year on another work assignment, we started dating. Two years after that, on November 17, 1976, we married.

As I said, Diane was incredibly talented. She began her college career at Stanford in 1971, and just six years later she earned a Ph.D. in Operations Research (applied math). Diane also immensely enjoyed sports. In addition to her basketball skills, she was an excellent tennis player, golfer, swimmer, skier, and football player. Yes, football player! Diane was the quarterback for her co-ed Stanford club football team.

At Bell Labs, Diane did ground-breaking work in packet network analysis for a project she proudly named PANDA. That project laid the groundwork for the digital communications technology we take for granted today. She also taught an in-house Bell Labs class in stochastic processes (probablility and random processes). I took the class. It was pretty dang tough.

Diane and I raised two outstanding children, Stacy and Aaron. We accomplished a lot of other good things together, too. Ultimately our marriage came to an end after 22 years. The marriage did not survive, but our friendship, respect, and mutual admiration did. I will never forget Diane. She accomplished so much in her life, and she established a powerful legacy for Stacy and Aaron, and for her grandchildren, Naijah and Alia.

Rest in Peace.

My son Gavin was tall for the 7th grade, over 6 feet, and it was hard to keep him in fitting clothes and shoes.  On a visit to New Jersey to see the Orsinis, Diane came over for a BBQ. She and I got to talking about Aaron having the same issues. After the picnic she set up a visit to her house with Gavin to look at some clothes and sneakers she had at the house. He left with a bag of goodies and the biggest smile I have ever seen him have. She always looked out for him and asked in detail about his high school basketball team every time I saw her. Her kindness went above and beyond.

We had planned a New Jersey trip one summer and it was in doubt because the Orsinis had some issues with their house.  Your mom immediately offered Laura and myself, the two kids, Gavin and Bella plus my nephew Josh a place to stay in the pool house.  They thought it was the coolest thing to stay in a place where Kyrie Irving, on our favorite team, the Celtics at the time, had once been.  The three kids swam until late in the evening while Laura, Dr. Mom and I chatted.

The next morning we were back in the pool and your mom came out and said she was leaving for her tennis championship.  The kids were so impressed that she was in that match.  When she returned they asked how she did and she told them they won and the kids cheered.  It was awesome.

I am truly sorry for your loss, Diane was amazing and kind.

I am sending you so much love, hugs, strength, and gratitude when I think of the loss of your mom and one of my favorite humans. Diane remained Dr. Mom to me for all these years and truly showed me at such a young and needed age the importance and value of being a strong, brave, and independent girl, woman, and human being. From the soccer sidelines, to Pine Drive nights, to the three peak house on Seven Bridges, to watching our parents have this beautiful friendship over all of these years. I am so grateful for Dr. Mom and always will be – she was so present and invested in not only my life but deeply committed to knowing and loving my husband, stepkids, and kids. She was a beautiful, yet subtle force that everyone always wanted to be around and watching our own kids (big and little) know her as Dr. Mom is a memory we will all carry with us. She was so fiercely proud of you both and the lives you have built and I know how much peace it brings to everyone who knew her, that you both surrounded her with love and support for all these years and especially the last few weeks.

Thank you for sharing your mom with me and my family and for all of these beautiful memories.  We will endlessly miss her and are always here for you!

Diane and I played softball together for several seasons.  We had a great team with a variety of talent and together we always managed to have a good time, and even win occasionally.

Of course, you know what an awesome athlete she was and her softball skills were top notch!! During one of our seasons Diane would get up to bat and stay at that task for quite awhile because she seemed to only hit foul balls. She hit very powerful hits, but alas, they were all foul balls. It became a bit of a running joke because every time she got up to bat we knew it was going to take a long time before the next batter was going to get a chance to have their turn at bat.

She hit so many foul balls that season that she single-handedly was responsible for the League changing the batting rules.  From that season on, you could only hit two foul balls after you had two strikes.  if you hit more than two foul balls you were called “out!”  It made her even try to hit lefty so she wouldn’t pull it anymore to the left of left field.  That was her, always trying to make it work!!  She loved life, her family, her friends and any new challenge that came her way.  She inspired us all to always move forward and to cherish every day!  God Bless you and your family!!.

She will be missed by so many!

I only knew “Stacy and Aaron’s mom” for a short time, really just this past year. I call her that because I was raised never to call elders by their first names, and somehow, even at my age, I couldn’t bring myself to call her Diane. So I just found ways to call her Stacy’s mom, like I was ten years old. We shared a common lineage as women who earned our doctorates at Stanford, and I think that created a bond that only people who went there can understand. I think she liked me just a little bit because of that. I first really heard about Stacy’s mom when Stacy told me she was planning a trip to Patagonia despite her illness. I thought that was the craziest thing I had ever heard. A few months later, I finally met her when Stacy brought her to Equinox for a massage while Stacy and I went to yoga. She was already small and thin, and her illness was clearly taking its toll. But what I remember most were her eyes and the spirit that radiated from them. And suddenly, the trip to Patagonia made perfect sense. Her attitude wasn’t so much “I’m going to beat this” as “I can’t be bothered with this illness. I have a life to live.” And somehow, that was even more powerful to me. Just onward. Stacy, fix me up. Aaron, fix me up. I’ll fix myself up. Onward.

The last time I saw her, I came to Holmdel to pick up Stacy. And there was Stacy’s mom, making sure I had a bag of nacho chips for the ride home. She was thinking about us, but I also had the distinct feeling that she was perfectly fine and ready for Stacy and me to get on our way so she could get on with whatever she had to do next. Onward. I feel so honored to be even a small part of this family. We all need inspiration in life, and Stacy’s mom gave me something I will carry forever:

I can’t be bothered. I have a life to live. Onward.

Words can’t express the sadness we feel with Diane’s passing. We are fortunate to have wonderful memories of our decades of friendship. From simple things such as fridays at Freddie’s, barbecues, soccer games, Red Bank fireworks to trips and celebrations. She was a very generous person who opened her home to Mark and Joe for their wedding and the pool house to Laura, Kyle and his older kids when we had an infestation of bed bugs. She was a very special person and a special friend. She was genuinely a good person who cared about her family, friends and community. She raised two wonderful children who were so committed and supportive of her.

To all of us who were gifted to have known Diane,

The problem with being fortunate to be among living toward a ripe old age is that as we age, we either join the list of those who pass, or we survive and share the loss of more and more of those we care about. I am sitting here at my computer, tears in my eyes as I type this – it’s a dreary day, the mountains here in Colorado outside my windows are sheathed in clouds (as if in mourning) and it’s raining mixed with melting falling snow in the 37-degree weather (as if shedding tears with me)!

My own feelings of loss are mixed with wonderful memories of Diane and her strong will and courage, as she joins those on the other side of the veil, leaving us with our grief and our fond memories of friendship, love and shared days long past.

My heart and condolences go out to you all, Diane’s friends, and especially to Diane’s loved ones and family!

With my sincere gratitude for having shared some bit our lives together, I bid you Farewell Diane Sheng! May your memory be a Blessing!

We still find it hard to believe that Diane is no longer with us. We visited her at Riverview Medical Center on Sunday, just four days before her passing, where she was recovering from surgery and had moved into rehab. She was alert, cheerful, talkative, and full of life. It is heartbreaking to think that just days later, she is gone. Our careers at Bell Laboratories paralleled each other, and, on a personal level, we raised our kids together. She was equally a role model in her very successful career as well as in her dedication as a mom, and she was a great friend. May her loving and gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Our heartfelt condolences go to Stacy, Aaron, David, and the entire family.

I have so many Diane stories but here’s one I regret not thanking her for more sincerely because even now it stands out as a measure of her devotion as a friend. During the last 9 months of my mother’s life, she was in a long term care facility, too weak to come home. That meant I was visiting or working on organizing her care almost daily. One day Diane and Dee called me up and said, “stay home, do something for yourself, we’re going to visit your mother today”. I had not asked for that nor hinted how stressed I was. But it was the best gift anyone could have given, and no one else ever offered it during that time. No fanfare, no explanation, no mention of it to others. Just being there as a friend. Her friendship was very precious to me.