Diane (Ashcraft) Winters

Diane (Ashcraft) Winters passed away peacefully in her home in Harrah, OK on June 24, 2024. She was 74 years old.

Diane was born in Tuscaloosa, AL on May 1, 1950 to Madge Powell Mulder. She grew up in Montgomery, AL in the 1950s and 60s during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. She graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1969 and worked for the state of Alabama as a clerical aide and then clerk for several years.

While working for the state, she met her best friend Gay, who was engaged to a young man in the military. His brother came to visit from Oklahoma to Alabama during the summer of 1974. Gay introduced Diane to her fiancé’s brother Joe, and a long-term, long-distance relationship commenced between Joe and Diane by way of handwritten letters. One year later, they were married in Montgomery, honeymooned at the beach, and then set out to start their lives together in Oklahoma.

Diane worked for the state of Oklahoma until their first child, Emily Suzanne, was born in 1978. She cared for several teachers’ kids from their home while also welcoming their second child, Andrew Jordan, in 1982. Once Andrew started school, Diane began working in the HHS cafeteria. Once she mastered the pink cookies recipe and could make hot rolls and cinnamon rolls with her eyes closed, she used her skills in every cafeteria in the Harrah school district, eventually becoming manager at Russell Babb Elementary.

Throughout her working life, Diane served at FBC Harrah as preschool director, VBS instructor, Falls Creek cook, choir member, volunteer for multiple committees, and her favorite, self-appointed role: baby snatcher for all new moms who needed a break. She loved to tell kids about Jesus through crafts, games, and especially songs, as she was a gifted vocalist who could find the harmony line in any song without practice or guidance.

Diane earned her favorite title in 2005, when her first grandbaby was born and she became commonly known to many as “Nana.” She retired from the school to take care of her grandbabies, and she has spent the last two decades of her life establishing nap time routines, rescuing sick kids from school, and sitting in hours of school pickup lines. She kept a handful of other kiddos alongside her own as well, giving an entire generation of children unconditional love and the ability to call her their Nana, too.

In her free time, Diane loved to shop, read, and quilt, likely in that order. Obviously, she loved Joe, Emily, and Andrew, but she adored Addie, Jack, Abe, Allie, Myles, and Cam with abandon. But above all this and without hesitation, Diane Winters loved Jesus with her whole heart. She was confident in her faith and wanted nothing more than for her family and friends to know the same assurance.

Diane is preceded in death by her mother and brothers. She is survived by her husband of 49 years, Joe; daughter Emily and her husband Val, children Cameron and Myles; son Andrew and his wife Alicia, children Adalyn, Atticus, Abraham, and Alivia; sister Janet Zeigler of Alabama, brother Ken Ashcraft of Alabama, and several nieces and nephews.

Services will be held on Friday, July 5, at 10:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Harrah. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages memorial contributions to FBC Harrah’s Falls Creek fund at 2185 Church Ave., Harrah, OK 73045.

Arrangements are under the care of Asa Smith Funeral Services of Harrah, Oklahoma. Online condolences may be made at www.asasmith.net