It is with heavy hearts and sadness we report the death of Dianne Louise Tyler/Hegland. Dianne passed away in San Antonio, Texas on July 28, 2023, after a short illness. Dianne was born in Salem, Ohio on August 1, 1944 to Betty Lee Lyons. As WWII was concluding, Betty and her two children move west to Montana, at the behest of her grandfather. It was not long thereafter that she met a good man, and great father for her children, Edwin G. Hegland.
After a short stop in Great Falls, Montana, this new family moved to Craig, Montana, and a three-room shack, heated by the kitchen wood-burning cook stove. Not ideal, particularly in the winter, the outdoor privy was at least 20 yards away. After a year, the Heglands moved back to Great Falls. Dianne started her education at Lowell Elementary and graduated from Great Falls High School in 1963. She met her future husband, James M. Tyler, also from Great Falls, in the fall of 1963 or maybe 1964. Upon Jim’s graduation from the University of Montana and commissioning as a US Army 2nd Lieutenant, they embarked on a remarkable military career that spanned 25-plus years, CONUS assignments in California, Hawaii, and Texas, a tour in Vietnam, and the United States European Command Center, Germany.
Along the way, Dianne and Jim brought two wonderful daughters into their adventures. Jim retired from the military after his European assignment. He and Dianne settled in Spokane, Washington. There, Dianne took her own wings. With much acclaim, for the next 10 years, Dianne was the Director of the Family Support Center at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, putting her Master’s Degree from Boston University to practical use.
In retirement, Dianne and Jim moved to the cabin of their dreams on a small lake in a secluded backwoods area near Colville, Washington. Jim preceded Dianne in death, October 27, 2022.
Daughters Heidi Michael Scharnhorst, San Antonio, Texas, and Heather Michael Love, Meridian, Idaho, survive Dianne.
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