Diana Reardon (nee GIMA)

Diana Reardon (nee GIMA), age 94 of Mishawaka, IN passed away September 4, 2025. She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Diana was wife to the late Thomas "Jim" Reardon; mother to Michael Reardon, Patrick Reardon and her late daughter, Mary Beth Trachtenberg; grandmother to Mike Rodich, David Rodich, the late Julia Powers, Erin Heighway, Patrick Reardon, Marguerite Reardon, James Reardon and Vincent Reardon; and great grandmother to Michael Rodich Jr., Luka Rodich, Ryan Powers, Andrew Powers, Connor Heighway, Jade Heighway, Grace Reardon, Brady Reardon, Griffin Reardon, Mikael Reardon, Laura Reardon, and Eric Reardon. She was preceded in death by her siblings, Annie, John, Paul and Elmer (Babe) and her parents, Michael and Julia Gima, who were both immigrants from Slovakia. She also had many meaningful relationships with many cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.

Over the decades, Diana was a consistent source of love and a confidant for family members spanning four generations. Whether through her daily visits with her son and Caregiver, Patrick, or periodic visits and Sunday phone calls from family out of town, she was always focused on the well-being of her loved ones, and she embraced the bittersweet nature of the visits and of life itself. When asked what she was most proud of (in a 2019 interview with her grandson, David), she replied without hesitation, “My family.” In her last days, as her health swiftly declined, relatives visited on a day’s notice from as far west as Colorado and as far east as Switzerland. Like rivers returning to the mountain spring that is their source, her family members came back to her to give her love and thanks. Diana nurtured three generations. After raising her children, she had the energy and desire to share her maternal spirit with her eight grandchildren and then her twelve great-grandchildren, all of whom showered her with love in her final days.

An intelligent, artistic and charitable woman, Diana lived a full and varied life. She was a brilliant student, who graduated with honors from Roosevelt High School in East Chicago at age 16. She expressed her artistry through hatmaking, working as a milliner, and through oil painting. Diana gave back to the community working for many years as a remedial reading teacher, in which she was able to share her love of reading with struggling students.

Diana was a strong, resilient and independent person who loved her family fiercely. She lived her last days in that same manner: on her own terms, surrounded by her family, passing on with dignity.

A celebration of Diana’s amazing life will not be until next summer when all family members can safely travel. Donations can be made at https://thecurestartsnow.org

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