Diane Dorfman

It is with a heavy heart that the news of the passing of Diane Dorfman is being shared.  On August 2, she succumbed to lung cancer in her own bed at home.  True to herself, she was fiercely independent of mind and continued to call the shots and direct her care until the end.  Her strong will served her well during the past few months when her health began to decline. Diane was born on January 31, 1922, in Riga, Latvia.  Her parents had spent the previous 6 months escaping from the pogroms in Russia.  By the time she was 6 years old, the family moved to Petaluma, after living for short periods of time in Springfield, Massachusetts, Philadelphia and San Francisco.  Her parents bought a small ranch on the west side and raised chickens and after several years a small dairy herd was added.  She began first grade at Wilson School in 1928.  She went on to attend Petaluma Jr. High and graduated from Petaluma Sr. High in January 1940.  She had hoped to move to San Francisco and continue her education, but she met Joe Dorfman and her plans made a change.  On September 29, 1940, they were married and remained in the community. Over the years Diane raised her children, participated in PTA, taught Sunday School at B'nai Israel, became a life member of Hadassah, belonged to the Sisterhood of B'nai Israel and supported the activities of her children.  She was an auxiliary volunteer at Petaluma Valley Hospital for 35 years, finally retiring in November 2017, at the age of 95.  She was also a life member of the Petaluma Historical Museum Association, where she also served as a volunteer.  In addition, she was a member of Sage and also frequented Friendship Circle in Santa Rosa.

She thoroughly enjoyed live theatre, music, film, eating out and getting together with the gals over lunch.  She greatly missed being able to attend the last two lectures of the Marin Lecture Series this spring, as her health declined. For many years she was a participant of day tripping activities and experienced many enjoyable and educational times with the organization and met some wonderful people who became new friends.  Diane loved to read and could never pass up an opportunity to browse for a new book.  She jokingly used to say that she could never die because she still had too many unread books. And, she loved jewelry as much as her books.  She always looked forward to doing the daily crossword and word jumble.  She had a special love in her heart for dogs, having owned many since she was a child.  It was a rare day that her car never left the garage to go somewhere and she drove up to her 96th birthday.

Diane was predeceased by her parents, Morris and Pauline Brody, her infant son, Clifford, her beloved son Steve, and her husband Joe.  She is survived by her daughter Cynthia, her brother Seymour Brody, sister-in-law Sue Brody, and many nieces and nephews.  In addition, she leaves behind very special multi-generational friends.  Her regret of late is that she did not live long enough to see the outcome of the Mueller investigation.  She was grateful for the care she received from Claudia, Lusi, Leticia and Sera.  Diane will be missed by many. Services will be held on Monday, August 6, 2018 at 11 a.m. at Parent-Sorensen Mortuary, 850 Keokuk St., Petaluma, with burial at B'nai Israel Cemetery. In place of flowers, donations may be made to the Steve Dorfman Memorial Scholarship Fund, California State University Chico, 400 W. First Street, Chico, CA 95929 or to Petaluma Animal Services, 840 Hopper Street, Petaluma, CA 94952

Parent-Sorensen Mortuary and Crematory