Diane Holubek (1945-2023)

It is with sadness alongside joyful gratitude for a life well-lived that we announce the passing of our mother, Diane M. Holubek, on July 26, 2023, at Hershey Medical Center, her daughters at her side. At 78 years young, Diane had lived with multiple myeloma since 1999 and esophageal cancer since 2015, long bypassing even the most optimistic prognoses that doctors had offered. She was - and we are - grateful for every single day.

Diane was born on July 2, 1945, the daughter of Charles and Mary (Schoengrund) Frey, joining an older brother, the late Daniel J. Frey. In 1966 she married the late Joseph M. Holubek and moved from Diane’s hometown of Lehighton, PA, to Hummelstown. There they raised three daughters - Michele of Edinburgh, Scotland; Debra (Gray) of Camp Hill; and Suzanne of Lancaster - welcomed three sons-in-law - Evan Roth, Chris Gray, and Jeff Howell - and enjoyed the love of three grandchildren - Charlie, Caitlyn, and Hunter. Along with her beloved nieces, nephews, brother- and sisters-in-law, and many dear friends, her immediate family celebrates her many years of joy-filled living while grieving this immeasurable loss.

After an early retirement from her job as a billing specialist for Arlington Group, Diane volunteered many hours for causes near to her heart, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Hope House, and the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Hershey, where she was a parishioner for 45 years.

Always on the go, Diane loved knitting, sewing, reading, gardening, puzzles of all kinds, drinks with friends, doting on her grandchildren and grandpups, traveling throughout the USA and Europe, and taking in as much of the world as her energy levels would allow. A recent pilgrimage to Rome for an audience with Pope Francis was a life highlight. She was tickled pink by a visit to the Jane Austen Center in Bath, England, and spoke often of the bittersweet joy of walking through the same fields where her beloved father had served during World War I in Meuse-Argonne, France. Memories of her cross-country drive to Colorado brought her great happiness, as did those of two trips to the Caribbean with her late husband.

Diane particularly enjoyed making and selecting special treats for people she loved, and any time someone in her entourage welcomed a new baby into their lives they would soon receive a handmade hat, sweater, or blanket. Her sewing talents were legend; every grandchild had a complete wardrobe handmade by their Nana, and she was always receiving compliments for the beautiful and colorful outfits she made for herself and others. Her home was full of flowering plants she had nurtured for decades as well as photos reminding her of the many happy times she had shared with family and friends. She was generous, playful, and loved to laugh, qualities she shared with everyone she met.

Christmas was a Diane’s favorite time of year, and she spent weeks planning her decorations while listening to carols. She and her granddaughter Caitlyn got together every year to bake the family’s stash of cookies, which Diane loved sharing with neighbors and friends. It was a family tradition to receive her special flannel pajamas on Christmas morning, and she left behind an unfinished pair on her sewing machine.

No story of Diane’s life would be complete without acknowledging the outstanding and at times seemingly miraculous work of the doctors who treated her at Penn State Hershey, starting with Dr. Witold Rybka (retired) of the Cancer Institute as well as Doctors Scott Barnes, Salah Almokadem, Najamuz Zaman, and their respective medical teams, from phlebotomists to billing specialists, RNs to physicians’ assistants. Dr. John Levenick and his colleagues in the Endoscopy Center made sure that Diane could manage the lasting side effects of radiation treatment over the past eight years, and Dr. Stewart McCarver and the talented and compassionate nurses, residents, and fellows of the Hershey Medical Center MICU, including Felicity, Caitlyn, Karen, and Kristen, served Diane in her final hours. We are indebted to these skilled medical professionals and thank each one of them for every single minute we have enjoyed with Diane over her unexpectedly long run.

Diane’s Catholic faith sustained her as she went through decades of arduous cancer treatments and the loss of her husband. Her life will be celebrated in a funeral Mass on Friday, August 4th at 1 pm at St Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Hershey, PA. Her final resting place will be alongside her beloved husband Joe at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.