Tribute

Diana Lynn Toutant (nee Guérard) was called a lot of things in her life: Mom, Gramma, auntie, sister, Di. She was also called a rebel, a tomboy, the life of the party, unconventional, a flirt, hilarious, and mischievous. To those around her, we also knew her as loving, generous, warm, and kind. She wanted to make everyone around her feel like they were important, and she would do anything for a laugh. She was sarcastic, with a quick wit and a dark sense of humor.

She was born June 27, 1946, to Antonie Buhmann and John Alphonse Guérard in Kelowna, BC. Not long after they found a home in a tiny little house in Vancouver alongside her older sister, Carol. Di had a tumultuous childhood, with multiple moves, hardships, and adversities. Like everything else in her life, Di persevered through them without losing her sense of humor, though those experiences shaped her for the rest of her days. It was during this time that she formed several strong family bonds that lasted a lifetime, not just with her sister Carol, but later with her sister Denise and her stepdad, Jack Brash.

Di always wanted a family. She expressed in her later years that she always wanted to be a good mother, a good wife, and live a calm life. As a young teen, she met the future father of her children, James (Jim) Cook, just a baby himself, and went on to have four children: Darwin, Tammy, Wendy, and Cindy. Being so young, Di made a selfless choice, and Darwin was placed with a loving family. She and Jim later raised their three girls. Di described this early period of parenting as one of the best times of her life, many times wishing she could go back and do it all over again. Her favorite memories were taking the kids to swim lessons, making Halloween costumes, taking drives to the Okanagan, dressing them in matching outfits, and catching frogs with the kids. She was deeply grateful to reconnect with Darwin and his children later in life.

As often happens with two people who marry young, Jim and Di eventually parted ways. Diana moved to Williams Lake, where her mom lived, and enjoyed a few short years there before losing her mother sadly in only her mid twenties, just a couple of years after losing her father, Al.

At 35, she met her handsome lover boy, Patrick Toutant. This was the same year she welcomed her first grandchild, Jason. These were two very fortuitous events, because this was when she discovered that her true calling in life was to be a grandmother. Together, Pat and Di had great adventures. They lived in multiple places – notably the Okanagan, Vancouver Island, and Alberta, creating cherished memories in each location.

Di said her favorite time in her life was living on the farm in Alberta. She loved living across the road from her daughter Cindy, her former son-in-law Ron, and her grandkids, teaching the children how to can food, sew, and play the spoons. She was elated to be there when Joshua was born, and it was there that she also got to meet her grandson Cody. She loved flying planes with Pat in the fields, supporting his fine furniture business, spending time with friends, and enjoying multigenerational living.

Later, they moved to the Okanagan to live with Di’s stepdad, Jack. It was her pleasure to welcome and connect with her aunts, uncles, friends, nieces, and nephews, as well as host her grandkids, and extended family every summer. She took great joy in hosting people—playing cards, listening to Elvis, dancing on the compass, picking cherries, swimming, and fishing in the lake.

Eventually, life took her back to the Island, where she was able to spend more time with her sisters, daughters, grandkids, friends, and extended family. She made new friends and rekindled old friendships. She mentioned many times how much joy she had in having her grandson Scott live with her, reflecting fondly on the many adventures they shared. She was so proud of all her Grandchildren. Whether it was commenting on every single facebook post, messages with ideas for the kids, visits, re-posting their photos, or cherishing every call she had, she showed it. She was a very proud Grandmother and had an anecdote about each one of her grandkids. She could be caught bragging to anyone that would listen about Amanda’s beautiful kids, or how much of a brat Jason is. About how proud she is of Wayne’s family, her precious Sammy Lou, or Dani and how hard she works. How good of a mom Nicole is. She loved to reminisce about Vanessa working with Grandpa in the shop, what a little princess Stephanie was, or Jessie’s dorky glasses, how fearless Chris was, or the time Joshua swore over a quarter, when she met Cody, and Darwin’s children. She was so proud even when she couldn’t see everyone often, or it had been a long time, she was always proud.

In 2023, Di lost her life partner of 42 years, Pat. This was the hardest event of her life. During this time, she was able to reconnect with her stepkids and grow closer with her friends – particularly Doug, Claudia, Mary Jean, Pat, and Jason, and many more than can be mentioned, but were all important. Through the support of many friends, landlords, neighbors, and family members, she carried through her immense grief. Di took this time to learn more about herself and heal from past pains and regrets. She was so incredibly proud of who she had become in the last few years of her life: her independence, her empathy, her growth, her forgiveness, and the grace she showed to both herself and others.

At the end of her life, she wanted nothing more than for her babies and grandbabies to find peace and healing. She was aware of her humanness and spoke freely about her regrets, serving as an excellent role model that it is never too late to heal.

Di wanted to take care of people, whether they were her friends, family, grandkids, or husband. It could be feeding them, driving them somewhere, or going for a game of bingo. She had a big presence and strong opinions. She exemplified grace and compassion all the way to the end, caring deeply about the impact her passing would have on her grandkids, friends, and family. She tried, unsuccessfully, to shield everyone from the pain of losing her, an impossible task when you are loved so deeply by so many.

Di’s last day was spent in a multigenerational cacophony. She was surrounded by friends and family both in person and via video call. She had one last cigarette, listened to “What a Wonderful World,” hugged everyone, told them she loved them, made people feel good, and cracked jokes. Then, she fell peacefully into rest. Some of her last words were, “I can’t wait to see what this is all about.”

She leaves behind her children: Darwin, Tammy (David), Wendy (Ken), and Cindy (Joe); her stepkids: Leona, Patty, and Pam; her sisters: Denise Hamilton (Rick) and Carol Carr; her nieces and nephews who she loved and was loved by, and her greatest joys – her grandkids, of whom she was immensely proud and whom she would brag about to literally anyone who listened: Jason, Wayne, Amanda, Danielle-Lynn, Scott, Christopher, Jessica, Vanessa, Stephanie, Samantha, Nicole, Joshua, Cody, Danielle M., and Sheldon. She had more than 30 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren, and she loved being a “GG” to them all.

Di also had many honorary kids and grandkids. She was loved by many extended family members and had countless friends whom she loved dearly, and who loved her dearly in return.

She will be greeted by her late husband Pat, her mother Antonie, her dad’s Al and Jack, and her brother Ron. She is looking forward to dancing the Macarena with her auntie, sharing a slow dance with her lover, and playing cribbage games with all her loved ones who went before her.

She made an incredible impact. She was the driver of our clown car, and we loved her so much.

Diana asked for no funeral service. Her ashes will be spread alongside her husband’s in the ocean, her favorite place.