Diane Dodds-Reichert was a loving mother, wife, sister and friend. She passed away in the early morning of Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at the age of 75 at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California.
Born in 1947 to loving parents Gustav and Lota Hilbert, Diane was the middle of three children and was raised in Altadena, California. Diane was raised in the typical southern California lifestyle, visiting the beach on weekends with her family, attending church every Sunday, and enjoying endless sunny days in between.
After she graduated from Pasadena High School, Diane enrolled at Pasadena City College. As a rising junior, she discovered the paradise that is Santa Barbara. After applying to attend UCSB, she was accepted, started in the fall of 1966, and went on to graduate in 1968 with a degree in English.
Diane was an avid reader and a lover of the English language which helped her become an accomplished linguist, and to have little patience with either grammatical errors or loose slang. After graduating from college, she worked in the banking field as a teller and loan officer, and later spent some time teaching English.
In 1985 she married Alexander Dodds IV. In 1988 they adopted their two sons, Jeffrey Alan Dodds and Alexander Dodds V.
With this marriage, Diane’s career took a happy turn as she worked as the assistant in the tax and investment office of Alex M. Dodds and Associates. During this period, her banking and tax experience served her well in her truly life-long career as a real estate investor in partnership with her siblings.
Diane’s compassion and love of life, as well as her faith, were pivotal to her children’s upbringing. The family was active in Trinity Baptist Church; Diane served in multiple roles including to teach Sunday School and in the Awana program. After her husband’s passing in the late fall of 1999, she continued to raise her children in the best way she knew how: faith, family and love.
Diane was a huge believer in grace and kindness, which helped guide her to become involved in multiple charitable endeavors, especially the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission. Her compassion for others was a beacon of hope for anyone she helped.
Over the years, Diane became a distinguished member of the community in Santa Barbara. With her lifelong dedication to education and her numerous philanthropic endeavors, in 2017 she had the distinct honor of becoming an alumni board member at her alma mater, UCSB. Through this extraordinary body, she was able to contribute greatly to the community of alumni and to help to ensure the success of future generations of UCSB students. Up in Heaven, she quite likely switches her halo every so often for a golden Gaucho hat.
Early in 2011, Diane met David Reichert at an Opera Santa Barbara production of Verdi’s “La Traviata” at the Granada Theatre. Through the power of this remarkable relationship and David’s ardor for literature and the arts, Diane’s existing love for the arts and philanthropy naturally increased. Diane became a leading contributor to Opera Santa Barbara.
Other arts organizations she supported included CAMA, the Santa Barbara Choral Society, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Historical Museum, and the Natural History Museum.
Spending so much time with each other, Diane and David fell in love, and four years later they tied the knot with a beautiful ceremony at the gorgeous All Saints-by-the-Sea church in Montecito.
Diane is survived by her son Alexander and her husband David of Santa Barbara; her two siblings Mark and Faith of Orange County; and many nephews and nieces she held dear. Her warm smile, compassion, and dedicated love to all will be missed by her family, friends and loved ones. Her memory will leave a forever burning ember inside each one of our hearts.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission or a charity of your choice.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 30 at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara. For questions, please contact David Reichert at dreichertinsb@gmail.com.