Diane Joy Menning

Diane (Schmidt) Menning, 76, died June 18, 2016 attended by her husband at home under the care of Mayo Hospice. A visitation will be held at Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. and an hour prior to the 2:00 p.m. funeral service on Thursday, June 23, 2016 at Grace Lutheran Church in Rochester.Burial will be out of state on Friday. Diane was born the youngest of nine siblings in Milwaukee (Bay View), WI where she was baptized, attended K-8 grades, was confirmed and married at St. Lucas Lutheran Church and School.Diane is survived by five older brothers, three still living in the Milwaukee area.Diane graduated from Bay View High School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Diane enjoyed outdoor activities where she met her future husband on a triple date tobogganing. Their first date together was about eight months later to a quarter mile dirt track stock car race.She married John a little over a year later when he received his BSME degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison.Johns third employment took the young family to South East Michigan where they raised their family of four children and lived for 44 years. Diane was an excellent cook and a master quilt maker winning a first place blue ribbon at the Michigan State Fair.She was an office holder and member of several quilt clubs.Diane was also an active member and office holder in her church and service organizations.As a quilt maker she designed and constructed banners for our church and for LWML conventions.Diane achieved Michigan Master Gardener certification and enjoyed working in her large 100 foot diameter vegetable garden. Though small in stature and small boned she enjoyed activities such as hiking, biking, canoeing, cross country skiing and camping.She completed the 100 mile in 10 hour segments of the Detroit News Belle Island bike marathon several years.She has stood on the summit of Mount Baxter in Maine and the 14,433 foot summit of Mount Elbert in Colorado.We put 213,000 miles on one camping vehicle over a 28 year time span with other camping before and after this time.Our favorite park was Glacier National Park in Montana where we once hiked over 100 miles in 10 days including a back country tent camp at Cracker Lake where the two of us spent the night in Grizzly Bear Country with the nearest human about a four hour hike away. Diane is survived by her husband, John of 54 years; four children, Mark (Terrie), Eric (Daphnie), Bruce, Ruth (Brian) Poole; six grandchildren, Lacey, Robert, Ezekiel, Gabriel, Michael and Luke; five of her older brothers; most of her 49 first cousins and about as many Menning in-laws as well as their descendants. The Lord has blessed Diane greatly as well as Diane being a blessing to all she encountered. Memorials may be directed to, Trinity Lutheran Church in Pinckney, MI (Building Fund) or to another mission the Lord moves you to support. Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes 5421 Royal Place NW Rochester, MN 55901 (507) 289-3600 www.rafnranzandvinefh.com