Diane Rosella McCann

“That’s where Vince picked me out!” she said.

Her first car was a 1953 Plymouth, and she tried to get her driver’s license with it, but couldn’t quite get the shifting. So, she borrowed an automatic car and passed, but still had to take the test again with the shift stick and was able to pass.

As a junior in high school, Diane did housework for another family — picking and cleaning eggs, cooking and cleaning, while making $12 a week. For two years after high school, she worked at Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis, commuting from Albertville while dating Vince.

The couple wrote love letters back and forth for two years while Vince was in the service, and he returned home on leave once a month on pay day, before getting out on Aug. 23, 1957. The pair was married two months later on Oct. 26, 1957.

They lived in the basement of Vince’s brother’s house on Daytona Golf Course in Dayton, MN, for six months, using sheets for walls. They then moved to another basement house, where their first child, Joyce, was born, followed by their son, Jeff. Back at Daytona, they occupied the entire house and had their third and fourth children, Ron and Ellie.

Diane’s first flight was in February 1974, to Anaheim, CA, and she took many more exciting trips with Vince while he was a golf course superintendent. Together, they traveled to Orlando, New Orleans, Phoenix, Nashville, San Antonio, Birmingham and Dallas. The pair also spent many weekends camping in their van, which was fixed up for sleeping with curtains on the windows.

In the fall of 1997, they traveled as far as Maine and enjoyed their first lobster. The following year, they went to Vince’s class reunion in Colorado and camped in the car. Their adventures also took them to Banff, Lake Louise and Glacier National Park, Columbia Icefields, Jasper, Olympic Park and the largest shopping mall in Edmonton, Canada.

They attended their oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in May 2002 in Avondale, AZ, then went to the Grand Canyon and camped in the car with a tent attached.

“Worked out great. Tent was good for reading and getting dressed!” Diane said.

To celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 2007, Diane and Vince took a trip to Germany. Ten years later, their children and grandchildren arranged for a limousine to pick them up after Mass, and they all went out for brunch at River Inn to celebrate their 60th anniversary.

Diane was a devout Catholic, Minnesota Twins fan, Girl Scout Cookie Chairman, Cub Scout Leader, hockey mom, golfer, Red Hat Society member and longtime hospital gift shop volunteer.