Diane Cary

Diane Lynn Cary (73) of Fridley, MN passed away on December 9th, 2025. She passed in her bed surrounded by loved ones and music, due to complications of Alzheimer's Dementia. Diane is preceded in death by her husband of 36 years, Richard Glen Cary, her parents, and her parents-in-law.

Diane was born Diane Lynn Clark on December 20th, 1951 to Richard Eugene Clark and Patsy Ruth Clark (Buff). She was raised on her family farm northwest of Dow City in western Iowa, along with sisters Mary Nave (husband Tom), Carol Gronlund (husband Edward), and Peggy Sloniker (husband Gary). She graduated from Dow City Area schools and received a Bachelor’s of Nursing from Nebraska Methodist School of Nursing. She was married to Richard Cary in 1973, and moved with him to South Bend, IN where she first worked as a full-time Registered Nurse. Then she moved to the Twin Cities where she lived for the rest of her life, and where she raised her three children: Matthew Cary (wife Leah Bourgeois), Erin Cary (husband Rob Matsushita), and Anthony Cary.

She worked at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale for over 40 years, primarily as a night nurse in Orthopaedics and its subspecialties. She was a proud union nurse, who fought for the rights of her fellow nurses through her votes, her marching, and her leadership. Her favorite nursing stories included making fake patients on April Fool’s Day, treating a survivor of the Titanic, one of her early AIDS patients fixing her terrible perm with nursing scissors, and whenever a wife and a mistress were trying to see a man at the same time.

Diane was a clever and thoughtful woman, full of kindness until the very end. Those who only knew her after Alzheimer’s took hold still told of her smiles, kindness, and hugs. Those who were fortunate enough to know her before remember a woman who always was quick with a story, a joke, an insightful question, and a recommendation about how you could probably be doing something a little better. Her generosity showed in her volunteering in her children’s schools and Cub Scouts when they were younger, and always having open doors and an open table for all of her children's friends. She loved going to the movies, won almost every game and remembered most of the lyrics that Rich usually sang incorrectly. She was an excellent cook, home decorator and seamstress, and had strong opinions on corn, as befits an Iowa farm girl.

Her family would like to thank Willow’s Bend Senior Living, whose staff and residents took care of her in her final years.

Funeral services will be held both in Minnesota (1/24) and in Iowa (1/31).

Minnesota services will be held on January 24th at 10am at the Moore Lake Community Building in Fridley, MN. Light snacks will follow.

Visitation with family and friends will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2026, at the Huebner Funeral Home in Denison, Iowa, followed by a double burial of her and her late husband’s ashes in the Dow City Cemetery. A remembrance lunch will follow at the Dow City Community Building.