On Saturday, April 6, 2019, Diana Mae Kendall McCarty, cherished wife, mother, sister, aunt, and grandmother passed away quietly in her sleep at age 69. Born July 21, 1949 in Logan, WV to James and Ruth Kendall, Diana graduated from Huntington East High School and received her degree from Marshall University to work in her childhood dream career: Medical Technology. She married her high school sweetheart, Bernard Clar McCarty, on July 3, 1971. During their 44 years of marriage they played many rounds of golf with his parents all across the country and in Canada. The foursome loved to play golf and travel. Diana even won the first golf tournament in which she ever played. Bernard and Diana raised two children together in Nashville, TN, and worked hard to give them each a comfortable and happy life.
Diana was a devoted member of the churches she attended, as a child and as an adult. She sang in the choir, participated in group Bible studies, taught Sunday school, lead the junior high youth group, and cleaned the sanctuary week after week- sharpening the little pencils in the pews and restocking them with the visitor cards and offering envelopes. She always made sure any visitor to her church was greeted, and she’d sometimes brought them cookies the next day, just to make sure they knew they were seen and remembered.
She loved Andy Griffith, card games, crab legs, Huntington, musicals, milkshakes, Paul Newman, roses, Scrabble, The Statler Brothers, Stewart’s hot dogs, sweet tea, The Tennessee Titans, thin mints, bird watching, laughing, reading, reminiscing over memories, but above all else- her family. The highest compliment she could pay a person was to say that they have âKendall humor,â a rare and pure brand of humor that she shared with her siblings. It was infectiousâtheir spouses caught it and passed it down to their children, who gave it to their spouses. She was so proud when she saw her children play piano or sing or speak in church. She was perhaps only prouder at the sight of her two beloved grandchildren, Ashley and Owen Sanford.
Diana was preceded in death by: both her parents and husband; her brother, Donald Kendall; and her sister, Ellen Hatcher. She is survived by: her children, Lee Anne Sanford (Ryan) and Julia McCarty (Justin); her two grandchildren; as well as her eldest brother, Richard Kendall (Mindy); her sister-in-law, Carla Williams (Don); her brother-in-law, Steve Hatcher; and her adoring nieces and nephews.
A funeral service will be held âŞSaturday, April 13th at 3pm at Smyrna First United Methodist Church with visitation that same day âŞfrom 2-3pm. In lieu of flowers, Diana asked for donations to be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association in her memory.
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