Diana Crants

Diana S. Crants died Wednesday, December 23, 2015. Diana was born to Herb and Emma Spaulding on March 7, 1933 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Diana's father was a pediatrician, and as a young girl she loved to ride along as he made his evening house calls. Outdoor activities along the lake with school mates who became friends for life made growing up in Erie a perfect childhood experience. Diana earned her college degree from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and traveled to San Francisco to work in advertising at a number of different agencies. In 1956 she married David Thomas and they had two children, Willie in 1960 and Anne in 1967. They moved to Montana and their marriage ended in divorce. After working in medical records at Saint Vincent Hospital, Diana got her dream job working as secretary for Joe Sample and Harvey Bachman at KOOK TV. She enjoyed this job and stayed on after Joe and Harvey retired and KOOK became KTVQ-2 and the station changed ownership. She worked at the station for over forty years and eventually became national sales manager. At the station she met and married Duane Crants and in 1973 their son Jim was born. With work and family responsibilities life was very busy but Diana took it all in stride. She even became an outdoors woman, backpacking and trout fishing. After a day on the river she could change her persona and be the prettiest lady at the evening party. Diana enjoyed music and sang in the college choir and joined the choir at St. Patrick's, where she was a cantor and a Eucharistic minister, but not a Catholic. In 1990, Father David Dwyer took care of that. With his guidance, Diana became a devout Catholic. Diana loved traveling and planned wonderful family vacations in the western states, and after retirement Duane and Diana enjoyed many trips to England, France, and Italy. Diana is survived by Duane, her husband of 43 years; children Willie and Tarra Thomas of Billings, Anne and Ken Pekoc of Corvallis, and Jim Crants and Ginny Zawistowski of Minneapolis; her grandchildren Emma Thomas, Jacob Pekoc, Daniel Pekoc and Robert Crants; and her sister Betsy of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Her parents Herb and Emma and sister Joyce preceded her in death. A traditional funeral service for Diana will be at 10 am, December 26, 2015, at St Patrick Co-Cathedral in Billings. If you wish to make a memorial donation in Diana's honor please consider St Patrick Co-Cathedral Choir.