Life story

"Diane Dodge Grinnell

September 24, 1934 – December 25, 2025

Diane was born on September 24, 1934, in Syracuse, New York. Alongside her older brother Doug and younger brother “Red,” both of whom predeceased her, she enjoyed a childhood filled with adventure in Syracuse and on Otisco Lake in upstate New York.

She attended Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to study fashion design but left to find her true calling in nursing school, where she earned numerous honors and awards. Her training as a Registered Nurse included working at Roswell Park Cancer Center in Buffalo, a cutting-edge cancer research center, and interning at a Veterans’ Hospital where she cared for soldiers and veterans.

Diane worked at many hospitals during her long career, including Virginia Baptist Hospital, where she primarily worked as an oncology nurse. When she retired, she worked part-time as a school nurse at Virginia Episcopal School. In her starched white cap and crisp uniform, she tended to countless patients and was well known for her exceptional care, compassion, and professionalism. The many lives she touched always meant the world to her. Diane also will be remembered for her great sense of humor and infectious laugh.

She married Robert Orlando Grinnell, a former Navy carrier pilot in WWII, on January 23, 1958. Diane and Rob lived in eight different states due to Rob’s career at Nationwide Insurance. Along the way, they welcomed four children, before finally settling in Lynchburg, Virginia. They were married for 36 years until Rob’s passing in 1995.

A true animal lover, Diane’s greatest passion—aside from cooking, sewing, and entertaining—was her family. She is survived by her children: Robert Daniel Grinnell and his wife Frances Anne Grinnell; Garnette (Gigi) Grinnell Sweeney (John); Jennifer Louise Grinnell; and Eric Scott Grinnell. She was a loving grandmother to six grandsons and one granddaughter: Daniel Grinnell; William and Charles Sweeney; Colter and Luke Grinnell Van de Vijver; Erin and Graham Grinnell.

A devoted mother, family was always her number one priority. As her children, we will always remember playing until the last light of the fading day on Hickory Hill, until we heard Mom call us home for dinner.

That refrain echoes through the years—across the yard, across the miles, across time, across the long shadows cast by a childhood filled with fireflies and football, food and fun, swimming and long lake days—always with the voice of our beloved mother calling us home.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Lynchburg Humane Society in memory of Diane and the many pets she adopted over the years.

Lynchburg Humane Society
1211 Old Graves Mill Rd, Lynchburg, VA 24502
(434) 448-0088
Donate online at www.LynchburgHumane.org
"