Diane Cookman Stallworth

Born Diane Sandra Cookman to Nadine Todd (Frazier) Cookman and Robert R. Cookman, Jr., in Fitchburg, MA, in 1936, Diane grew up in Fitchburg, attending local schools and loving the outdoors. She was an accomplished equestrian and an avid skier. She traveled with her family regularly to Quebec for winter ski trips where she became a Canadian Junior Ski Champion. She graduated from Abbot Academy in Andover, MA, in 1954, and went on to Briarcliff College in Westchester County, NY. After graduation, she moved to Bermuda where she lived and worked in the fashion business for a number of years before returning to the states and moving to New Orleans. She lived right around the corner from the French Quarter as it was becoming the exciting, vibrant place it is now known as. She loved New Orleans but after meeting her first husband, moved to Greensboro, NC, where she raised her family. She lived in the Fisher Park area and was a member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. After her divorce, she remained in Greensboro and was active in the Junior League of Greensboro. She co-founded and operated the Briar Patch, a charming and successful children’s clothing store. She met her second husband, Clayton Stallworth, through a mutual friend and soon moved with him to Charleston, WV, where she thoroughly enjoyed decorating her home, designing her gardens, hosting wonderful parties, and traveling with her husband. Diane eventually moved back to Greensboro where she found her dream home in Fisher Park. She spent countless hours renovating, decorating, and furnishing her home and designing her gardens. She was a lover of art and collected many interesting pieces; both for her walls and for her sculpture garden, as she called her courtyard. She was a long time member of the Fitchburg Art Museum, which she frequented as a child, attending exhibits and participating in their junior art programs. Diane loved her home and gardens and remained active, tending her gardens and going to the gym nearly every day, where she had many supportive friends and earned her reputation as a bit of “gym rat.” Diane passed at home on January 14 after a brief illness. She was predeceased by her first husband, William N. Crawford, Jr., and by her second husband, Clayton Stallworth. She is survived by her daughter D. Merrimon Crawford of Arvada, CO, her sister Nadine C. Martel of Fitchburg, MA, her niece Nadine T. Price of Pittsfield, VT, her nephew Raymond A. Price of Nashua, NH, and her close friends who will all miss her dearly. She was 87. A Service of Remembrance will be held at the Isabelle & Anderson Funeral Home, 316 Clarendon Street in Fitchburg, MA, on June 8, 2024, at 11:00am, followed by her interment at the Forest Hill Cemetery. Friends are invited to visit with the family before the service between 10:00 and 11:00. A recording of the service will be available here: https://my.gather.app/remember/diane-stallworth To honor her memory, donations can be made to the Fitchburg Art Museum, 185 Elm St, Fitchburg, MA 01420.

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Diane Cookman Stallworth

January 14, 2024