Nancy “Diane” Wood Stern passed away on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 in Milton, Pennsylvania. Diane was the daughter of Lucian Lincoln Wood, Sr and Josephine Currin Wood.

Diane was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1951. Her family moved to Macon, Georgia in 1955.

After attending J. Ellsworth Hall elementary school and Miller High School, Diane began her 9^th grade at the newly opened Lasseter High School in Macon, Georgia. Diane thrived at Lasseter where she was a member of Beta Club and a National Merit Scholar. In 1968, she was chosen as a Governor's Honors Program attendee in the field of English.

At the 1968 Georgia Scholastic Press Association in Athens, Diane – a rising senior and future Editor-in-Chief of The Lasseter Lantern – took home two individual awards: the first for writing the best feature story and then the WSB Trophy for the Best Column on Broadcasting. Diane related this particularly humorous story from her days with The Lasseter Lantern: “When I was editor of the Lantern, I worked with the wonderful Miss June Emmett on every aspect of putting together each issue, way before computers. One particular issue had a front-page story about a "skit contest." When Miss Emmett and I went to retrieve the printed papers from Dudley Hughes High School, there on the front page was the story about the "skit contest" - only there had been a spelling error - so The Lasseter Lantern told the story of the "shit contest.” Miss Emmett and I had to go through every paper, just we two, with black magic markers, to "redact" what would have been the story of the year!”

Another story Diane shared on the Mark Smith-Lasseter web site involved her experience with driver’s education: “When we girls were taught driver's ed by Coach Marcell Harrison from Mark Smith, we drove a specially-outfitted car with second emergency brake on the passenger side - where Coach sat. There were usually four of us girls, one the driver. No matter how well you were doing - no mistakes - Coach was constantly hitting that brake - Start/drive/slam! Start/drive/slam! It's a wonder any of us escaped without severe whiplash! (thank goodness those were not yet litigious times).”

Diane belonged to KMS high school sorority and attended the annual sorority and fraternity dances throughout the years. She enjoyed hanging out with friends after high school as she was well loved by so many.

During Diane’s high school years, she loved to read, to write stories and poems, and to draw. As a teenager, Diane’s father had taught her and brother Lin to play the guitar and sing, so she showcased this gift by winning the 1969 Lasseter Talent Contest with a four-person ensemble vocal group called The Wayfarer’s. Diane’s favorite teachers were many, including: June Emmett, Gloria Jean Stokes, Anna Newberry, Linda Jones, Laura Mixon, Sandra Young, Nelle Wade, Louise Maxwell, and - of course - Ann Henry and Jacque James. No doubt Diane was much loved by them as well, being the excellent student that she was.

In Diane’s senior year at Lasseter, she was chosen as one of only six senior superlatives. Diane’s high school years culminated with her being selected as valedictorian of the 1969 Lasseter High School graduating class, a crowning honor after four exemplary years at this new school.

After graduation, Diane received a scholarship to attend Mercer University in Macon. During her time at Mercer, Diane was in Phi Mu Sorority, was president of the Associated Women Students and a member of Sigma Tau Gamma Scholastic fraternity. She was in "Who's Who in American College Graduates" and was chosen by the Mercer University faculty to receive the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Society Award as the top female in the 1973 graduating class.

Upon leaving Mercer, Diane traveled, worked and attended schools all over the country including graduate work at Tulane University and Sam Houston State University at the Institute of Contemporary Corrections. She also published "On the Other Side of Anger," a largely biographical book under the pseudonym of Drew Davis.

Diane was awarded the Ford Foundation Fellowship in Criminal Justice by the Southern Regional Council in 1976 - a fund focused on peace, freedom and democracy - established in 1936 by Edsel Ford.

She moved to Colorado in 1977 to attend the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where Diane graduated with honors in 1981. During this time, she married Kenneth H. Stern.

Diane worked in the Criminal Justice system for 10 years and then as a Mental Health Professional for almost 15 years. During her years at Mercer, Diane had become an activist and community organizer and continued this path for the remainder of her life. She was passionate about social inequity and always chose jobs that allowed her to have a positive impact on others' lives, people who - for whatever reason - were often outcasts, alone, poor, oppressed, in dire need of so much help. Diane sincerely felt she did her part to change the world - one person at a time.

God blessed Diane with incredible talents and the world will be a little bit sadder without her.

Diane was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her brother, Lucian Lincoln Wood, Jr., her sister Linda Martin Wiggins and numerous nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her good friend, Virginia Calloway of Milton, Pennsylvania.