Diana K., age 48 died suddenly on August 9. Her contagious humor, talent and warm concern for family and friends have been a gift which will be missed. She is preceded in death by her father, Raymond Lesch. Survived by mother, Cleo; sister, Cheryl Svendsen; nephew, Tom LeBlanc; niece, Michelle LeBlanc. She graduated from Golden Valley High School and Carleton College.
Didi passed way too soon. Although we traveled in different circles at Carleton, we found ourselves socializing occasionally in a small group of Carls in Minneapolis. My first stab at turning free-lance writing into a full-time employment had encountered an impassible hurdle, and I was being rejected for regular jobs because I was “over-educated.” Didi had a great job with Grey Advertising, a global agency for leading consumer brands including Dayton’s Department Stores. She kindly offered to set me up with one of their VPs to explore writing ad copy for them. With tons of writing samples, but nothing relevant to the ad world, I was badly in need of guidance. After writing some trial copy for the exec, it became clear to me that advertising was not my world, but I always appreciated Didi’s kindness and sticking her neck for someone she didn’t know well. Throughout my later career, I remembered how important her advocacy was at the time for my state of mind, and can’t help but think of her still whenever I pass on her example.
Charlie Quimby ’71
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Dede passed way too soon. Although I we traveled in different circles at Carleton, we found ourselves socializing occasionally in a small group of Carls in Minneapolis. My first stab at turning free-lance writing into a full-time employment had encountered an impassible hurdle, and I was being rejected for regular jobs because I was "over-educated." Dede had a great job with Grey Advertising, a global agency for leading consumer brands including Dayton's Department Stores. She kindly offered to set me up with one of their VPs to explore writing ad copy for them. With tons of writing samples, but nothing relevant to the ad world, I was badly in need of guidance. After writing some trial copy for the exec, it became clear to me that advertising was not my world, but I always appreciated Dede's kindness and sticking her neck for someone she didn't know well. Throughout my later career, I remembered how important her advocacy was at the time for my state of mind, and can't help but think of her still whenever I pass on her example.
DD: SB and I have been remembering you and our times at Carleton as well as the post-graduation celebrations at your place on Lake Street near Lake Harriet, Byerly’s, etc. A lesson for others is to stay in touch. We had no internet when we moved away in 1977. Sad. With this memory of you, we might nudge others to use the internet to stay in touch after graduation, as we had hoped we might do. Rest and peace, Jim
I have been thinking about DeDe lately and maybe sometime will post someting here.
SBS