Diane Pearce

Diane L. Pearce, 75, of Platteville, Wisconsin, died on Sunday, March 31, 2019. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 9, 2019 at the Melby Funeral Home & Crematory, Platteville. Rev. Bill Vasey will officiate. Burial will be at the Shawnee Cemetery, New Diggings, Wisconsin. Friends may call from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Diane L. Pearce Memorial Fund. Online condolences can be made at www.melbyfh.com.

Diane was born on May 31, 1943 in Streator, Illinois, daughter of Rev. H. LeRoy and Mildred M. (Osborn) Pearce. Diane received her nursing degree through Penn State University and studied Christian Education at the Philadelphia College of Bible. She attended Spanish Language School in Guadalajara, Mexico from July 1969 until June 1970. She arrived in Guatemala in August of 1970 where she began her missionary career as a Registered Nurse. She worked at a small clinic in Zacualpa, Quiche for several months before transferring to work at the Good Samaritan Hospital as a staff nurse in Chichicastenango in 1971. While in Guatemala she served with great zeal and compassion, having adopted an infant boy who was profoundly handicapped. He lived only several months and did not make his first birthday. She left Guatemala in June of 1974 and returned to Streator, Illinois, where she continued her career as a nurse.

Diane is survived by her son, Jody Pearce; brother, Alan Pearce; nephews, Alan and Tim Pearce; many cousins and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents.