Arrangements for the funeral of Diana Wardle
Thursday 25th January 2024 3.45pm
Redditch Crematorium
Diana’s family and friends are invited to attend a ceremony at Redditch crematorium on the 25th January at 3.45pm to commemorate her life, love and achievements. A live webcast of the service will also be available for those people who are unable to attend. To access the webcast follow the link below to the Obitus Website.
Username: giva0602
Password: 221871
You can log in to the Obitus Website at any time to view a test connection (and we strongly recommend you do this) but you’ll only be able to view the Live Webcast between approx 3.45pm and 5pm on Thursday 25th. The service will then be available to watch again for up to 28 days. (This will take up to 72 hours to be made available).
After the service, all are invited to The Orangery in Redditch for refreshments, including vegetarian and gluten-free options. We hope you can join us there – but please complete the form below to tell us if you will be coming by midnight on Wednesday 17th January so that we can advise the numbers for catering.
Family flowers only please. As part of the service you will be invited to help to place a flower around Diana’s coffin. If you can, please bring a single flower with you.
If you would like to make a donation in Diana’s memory, please consider Barnardos.
You will find details for the crematorium, the venue afterwards, the flowers and information regarding making a donation in Diana’s memory in the tabs below.
Redditch Crematorium
Address:Redditch Crematorium, Bordesley Lane, Redditch, Worcestershire , B97 6RR
The Orangery
You can find a map by clicking this link
Flowers
Donations to Barnardo's
If you would like to make a donation in Diana’s memory, please consider donating to Barnardo’s
Please remember to include Gift Aid, if you can.
Here is the link to donate online. There will also be a collection on the day of the funeral.
Messages and stories
Please feel free to leave any messages or words of tribute to Diana in the comments section at the bottom of the page. (Please note comments are moderated so do not go live immediately)
Click the image below to open the order of service
12 Comments
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Diana will be sadly missed by us all, especially her warm welcomes and smile as she sat at the head of the table in her kitchen. We still remember that first weekend, before they were married, when Ken and Diana stayed with us in Exeter.
The first comment reminds me similarly of Diana at work in the kitchen in Birmingham, conjuring up large amounts of excellent food at short notice for guests. As well as her many other talents, she was a wonderfully generous hostess . . .
So many happy memories of great company and amazing dinners. Some of my happiest Birmingham memories are of evenings spent with Diana and Ken in the kitchen. She was a tour de force and will be remembered very fondly by so many.
A wonderful tribute to Diana from The Ephorate of Antiquities of Aetoloakarnania and Lefkada. https://thermonews.gr/τοπικά-νέα/θέρμο-έφυγε-από-την-ζωή-η-ερευνήτρια-αρ/#google_vignette
Diana as we knew her was a brilliant and remarkable combination of funny and generous host, deeply loving and caring partner, mother, grandmother and family member, and deeply modest, committed and enquiring scholar. Un-self-centred above all. We will always remember her wisdom, kindness and humour. Thank you Ken, Diana and Nicola for all your friendship and fun.
I got to know Diana and Ken as an undergraduate at Birmingham University, first as teachers and mentors, and then as friends. Diana was a wonderful, funny, loving, and generous person, an innovative Mycenaean scholar and an expert in so many other things besides. I owe Diana and Ken more than I can say, and remember fondly many happy times spent in their company. Thank you Diana, Ken, Nicola, Amalia, and Kleio for your friendship down the years.
Diana : Warm, loving, hospitable, generous, funny, opinionated, infuriating, intolerant of fools, but knowledgeable, interesting and never ever boring . The world will be a much duller place with the loss of a very dear friend.
We knew Diana and Ken from that long-ago time when we were impoverished graduate students in Newcastle, and we have had so many quixotic adventures together in the ensuing years. I think of her as an important part of our family rather than just a friend. The news of her sudden passing was a great shock and brought Heraclitus to mind:
I wept, as I remembered, how often you and I
Had tired the sun with talking and sent him down the sky…….
Still are thy pleasant voices, thy nightingales, awake;
For Death, he taketh all away, but them he cannot take.
Diana had, in my experience, an unsurpassed gift for friendship. The boundless hospitality, of course, but also the attentive listening – in Diana, you knew you had a passionate champion for your cause, even if, under her forensic questioning, your cause turned out to be not quite as clear-cut as you had originally supposed. Passion and attention to detail don’t always sit well together, but in Diana they fused into the warm, wholehearted, magnificent person we knew and loved. When I heard of her death, I felt as though part of the scaffolding of my life had been dismantled. I hope Ken & Nicola, Amalia and Kleio can take comfort from knowing how much she was loved.
Αντίο Diana, I will never forget you
Ken, Nicola, My thoughts are with you at this time, but good memories never pass. Diana to me will always be “Auntie” Diana with her slobbery kisses that she taunted us with as a child. The tease captured an approachability that broke down barriers and conveyed her warmth and hospitality. I will always recall her unique fusion of grandiose splendor, in gatherings and celebrations, yet conveyed with such a casual and welcoming flair. An unencumbered juxtaposition of cultures and expression that captures the depth of Diana’s character. May you find comfort and strength in the countless good times and shared experiences.
I first met Diana and Ken as a graduate student at the BSA in the early 1990’s. They have been incredible mentors and friends from that day forward. The excavations, travels, meals, and laughs we have shared are far too many to recall. Nicola and I standing over the kitchen table, organizing the illustrations for my D.Phil. thesis, listening to and acting on Diana’s expert guidance from her chair, is one memory I particularly treasure. That extra photo of a komast dancer proudly displayed on the refrigerator for many years afterward to commemorate the occasion! I feel so lucky to have had Diana in my life for so many years, to be part of the extended Wardle clan, and that our families have always stayed so close. Our first stop in the UK is always been Moseley and no doubt it will remain so. Michael, Nicholas and I extend our love, prayers, and sympathy to Ken, Nicola, Amalia and Kleio. May her memory be eternal / αιώνια η μνήμη.