Dianne (Sorensen) Walker passed away peacefully on June 5th, 2022, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was surrounded by loved ones who will continue to honor her legacy by living their lives to the fullest.
Dianne was born on February 17th, 1962, in Brigham City, Utah to parents Ariel and LuAna Sorensen. Growing up, Dianne had a love for piano–mainly percussion in high school and later at Rick’s College in performance–and singing. This led to her attending BYU Provo where she concentrated her talents more on the lines of singing. She auditioned and was accepted into the BYU Singer’s choir her senior year and receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Vocal Pedagogy (teaching people how to sing) in 1988. While attending BYU Provo, she met the love of her life, Terry. They were married and sealed in the Salt Lake City, Utah temple on May 7th, 1987.
Terry served in the United States Air Force from 1989 to 1999 and during that time, they had 5 amazing children and lived in 9 different places (Montana being Dianne’s favorite). In 1999, Terry was discharged from the Air Force, and they moved to Gilbert, Arizona where the family currently resides.
Dianne loved to crochet and quilt and made many beautiful quilts and scarves for family and friends over the years. Dianne also loved spending time in the kitchen baking. She is especially known for her amazing banana bread and lemon bars that everyone begged her to make. Dianne had everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries memorized and would always send cards. Dianne also loved to travel with Terry. One of her favorite places to travel was Hawaii, where her father served an LDS mission. Despite Dianne’s struggles with cancer, she was always smiling and remained as active as possible by fishing, being a mother, and traveling. She was able to do some traveling in the last year to visit family in Ohio and Utah. While fishing in Utah with family during that time, she caught the biggest fish and had a grin from ear to ear. Of course, she had to tease everyone, especially Terry, about her feat.
Dianne was a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her favorite scripture was Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” She embodied this scripture by always finding ways to serve the Lord. Dianne served an LDS mission in the San Jose, Costa Rica mission from 1984 to 1986. She also served in many church callings that allowed her to be a blessing in the lives of many.
Dianne is survived by her husband Terry Walker; her 5 children, Laura (Ryan) Haddad, Andrea (Mike) Casteel, Ashley (Craig) Casteel, James, and Daniel; her 5 beautiful grandchildren; as well as her 5 siblings Annette, Mariel, Alvin, Carl, and Marie. She was preceded in death by her parents Ariel and LuAna Sorensen, and her 2 brothers, David and Charles Sorensen.
A memorial service will be held in Dianne’s honor on June 15th, 2022, at the LDS Chapel located on 1155 East Ray Road Gilbert, AZ. Flowers can be sent to this same address between 8am and 9am PACIFIC TIME. There will be a zoom broadcast of the service. Please email Terry Walker at [email protected], and we will send you the link. There will be a viewing from 9:00 to 9:45 am PACIFIC TIME, the family prayer will be held at 9:45 to 10:00, then the service will follow from 10:00 to Noon. The service will be followed by a graveside service at the National Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix located at 23029 North Cave Creek Road, Phoenix, AZ at 1:00 pm. Dianne will be dearly missed by her family and friends. Arrangements by Gilbert Memorial Park.
Published by Gilbert Memorial Park & Funeral Home from Jun. 10 to Jun. 11, 2022.
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