Mary Diane Ross was born June 16, 1940 in Portland, Oregon to Mary Irene (Wohlford) and Thomas Russel Handy. Diane passed away Wednesday, March 11, 2020 after a 4-year battle of cancer. After her parents divorced when she was two years old, she and her mother moved to Oregon, Missouri. For about 5 years, she lived with her mother’s sister and brother-in-law in Barnard, MO. While her mother worked, Claudine and Evan Kime were like second parents. She also lived with her maternal grandparents, Claude and Dora Wohlford for a while.
Diane attended 6 different schools but graduated from Oregon Missouri High School in 1958. Immediately following graduation, she began employment for the State of Missouri at the Buchanan County Welfare now called the Division of Family Services as a clerk typist. She retired after 21 and a half years on 12/31/1979 as a staff training specialist III, responsible for overseeing two training units, one in St. Joseph and one in Kansas City and for training eligibility staff in 49 counties. During her employment, she headed up a group of 20 some employees to rewrite the six Welfare Program Policy Manuals to simplify the policies and when completed, they were trained statewide.
While working full time, she attended college part time for 11 years and graduated in 1973 from Missouri Western College with a Bachelors Degree in social work. On 3/30/1963 she married Gerald Lyle “Jerry” Ross at the Wyatt Park Christian Church in St. Joseph. Jerry preceded her in death on 3/12/2018 after 55 years of marriage. Although, they had no children, they were blessed with 8 dogs which they fondly referred to as their “kids”.
Following retirement from the State of Missouri, on 12/31/79 Diane began employment for the State of Arizona on 1/3/1980 for the Family Assistance Administration for 8 years at which time she transferred to the Arizona State Medicaid Agency, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment Services where her major responsibility was to help establish a program for the elderly and disabled individuals needing long term care, including home care and home health services. This entailed working to hire new staff and established 18 offices throughout the state of Arizona. The division grew to 950 staff and creation of 16 programs. The last 14 years, she was the Assistant Director of the Division of Member Services which included about 850 staff. She retired after 18 years on 12/31/2005.
Diane loved shopping, reading, and loved her work, which included traveling to the offices all over in Arizona and into other states for meeting and playing with her “kids” with her husband. After retirement she took 2 European tours to 7 countries, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Paris, France, and London, England.
She spent 47 and a half years trying to improve the Medicaid program to make it easier for eligible persons to obtain help while reducing fraud and abuse.
Survivors include her half-sister, Maureen Babst (Donald); two half-brothers, Tom Handy (Julie, Terry Handy, all of Oregon City, Oregon; half-brother, Glenn Ray Thomas (Pat, Slater, MO; brothers-in-law, Loren Landis Ross (Junior) and wife, Jimalee O’Connor of St. Joseph and Jack Ross (Ericka) of Wexley Chapel, Florida; friends, Barbara and Curtis Gould, Mona Kurtz, Tammy and Troy Jordan, and Janet Blair. A big thank you to her special care givers, Jodie, Karen and Beverly.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jerry; her mother and step-father, Mary Irene and Millard Thomas; father and step-mother, Thomas and Vera Handy; step-brother, Billy Joe Thomas; many aunts, uncles, brothers-in-law, Frank, Sam, P-Nuts and sister-in-law, Loren Kelly.
Farewell Services 1:00 P.M. Monday, Meierhoffer Funeral Home & Crematory. Interment Memorial Park Cemetery. The family will gather with friends one hour prior to the service, Meierhoffer Funeral Home & Crematory. Flowers are appreciated and for those wishing to make a contribution, the family requests they be made to the American Cancer Society or Friends of the Animal Shelter. Online guest book and obituary at www.meierhoffer.com.
