Diane Marie Dreckman White, 72

A memorial service for Diane Marie Dreckman White, 72, of Gainesville, will be held Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at the First Christian Church in Gainesville with Bobby Jo Wade officiating. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the service at 11 a.m. Diane died July 19 at her home, surrounded by her family.

She was born April 20, 1951, near Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Jean and Bob Dreckman. The family moved to Ozark County in 1954 at the urging of Diane's grandfather, Al Dreckman, who had moved here earlier to raise registered Angus cattle after owning a Studebaker dealership in the Chicago area.

Diane grew up in a house her parents built off Cedar-Oak Drive, on part of the 600 acres Al Dreckman had bought for his cattle ranch. The Dreckmans created a love- and fun-filled home where their kids' friends were always welcome; they sometimes hosted teenage dances in the garage where Diane's brother Dale and his rock-music band performed.

Besides working and showing his dad's registered Angus cattle, Bob Dreckman, a Marine Corps veteran, later worked as an auto mechanic and taught the Gainesville High School auto mechanics class for several years. Jean worked for the late Roy and Addie Lee Lister at Lister's Drug Store on the Gainesville square and then moved to manage the Lister-owned Terry's Dime Store. Jean and Bob eventually bought the dime store. One of Diane's first paying jobs as a teenager was cleaning the store each week with high school friend and classmate Barbara Green Stevens.

Even during those high school days, Diane was a busy volunteer and leader. She was very active in helping with work projects to raise money for the senior class's annual trip to Washington, D.C. During the 1968-69 school year, she led a large, memorable pep club, with dozens of enthusiastic students wearing matching red vests and taking their own pep club bus to away basketball games.

After graduation in 1969, Diane completed a year of studies at what is now College of the Ozarks, and soon afterward, to show support for her brother Dale who was serving with the Army in Vietnam, she began her longtime association with blood donations. Diane continued to donate throughout her life as her time and circumstances allowed. She also helped many times at American Red Cross blood drives here.

On Dec. 17, 1977, at the Christian Church in Gainesville, Diane married Ozark County native Darrell White, who had been her Gainesville classmate since seventh grade. Diane and Darrell had graduated from GHS together in 1969.

As newlyweds, Darrell worked as a truck driver for Roadway Express out of its Springfield terminal, commuting from Gainesville when needed, and Diane worked at different jobs, including as an assistant in the office of Dr. Ed Henegar when it was located on the Gainesville square. She also became a devoted volunteer and meal-delivery driver for the Senior Citizens Center.

By the time they moved to Rogersville to be closer to the Roadway terminal, they had three daughters, Mandy, Dusty and Tiffany. Diane went to work in the school district as a teacher's assistant working with special needs children. In the following years, Diane completed several educational courses and certification requirements, including a course at the Missouri School for the Blind. She developed a special love for working with children who have autism, and she also taught sign language to several students. Later she would share that training as a para-professional in Ozark County school districts.

Diane and Darrell lived briefly in Mississippi before Darrell retired in 2009. Diane had retired earlier. They built a house in Gainesville on land Diane's grandfather had owned. Diane came out of retirement a couple of times to follow her heart back to the special students who needed her in Lutie and then Thornfield. She continued working until the 2021-22 school year as her health allowed.

She became president of the Senior Citizens of Ozark County Board and led the board's commitment to move out of the building on Third Street and then buy and move into a larger building on Highway 5 at the Gainesville city limits. That building, now known as The Center, continues as an active site serving the community in many ways. In that role, Diane also became active in Missouri's Silver-Haired Legislature, attending meetings around the state.

She served as an election judge for many years and also helped with outreach efforts at the Gainesville First Christian Church, where she was a member.

In January 2022 she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and she continued her work and volunteer activities as long as she could while fighting the disease with grace and determination.

She is survived by Darrell, her husband of 45 years; three daughters, Dr. Mandy White of Erie, Pennsylvania, Dusty Wrinkles of Gainesville and Tiffany Schuler and husband Larry of Rogersville; one brother, Dale Dreckman of Kunming, China; four grandchildren, Ashley Schuler, Khara Avery, Leann Wrinkles and Lucas Wrinkles; three great-grandchildren, Daisee Foster, and Waylon and Kadence Lewis; her mother-in-law, Maxine White of Gainesville; two sisters-in-law, Brenda Warren and husband Sam, and Ramona Henning and husband Garry, all of Gainesville; several nieces and nephews; and a host of life-long classmates and other friends.

She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, Bob and Jean Dreckman, and her dear father-in-law, Elbert White.

Memorial gifts may be mailed to The Center, PO Box 122, Gainesville, MO 65655, to help pay off the building's mortgage, or to the Diane White Memorial Fund to Benefit Local Schools at Century Bank of the Ozarks, PO Box 68, Gainesville, MO 65655. These gifts may also be left at Clinkingbeard Funeral Home in Gainesville.

Arrangements by Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, Gainesville.