Diane J. Snow

Diane Judith Snow (nee Troll), 77, died peacefully at the Pat Roche Hospice Home in Hingham, MA on July 29, 2024, following a 3-year-long battle with a progressive illness. 

 Born December 18, 1946 in Patterson, NJ, Diane was the daughter of Joseph (Joe) and Yolanda (Lonnie) Troll. Diane graduated from Hopkins Academy in Hadley, MA in 1964, and then in 1967 from the Burbank Hospital School of Nursing at Fitchburg, MA. At age 21, while employed as an operating room nurse at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Diane met her future husband, Phillip (Phil) D. Snow, on a Caribbean vacation. After a brief courtship, they married on September 7, 1968. 

 Early in their marriage, Diane and Phil moved to a couple of different locations, which allowed Phil to complete his education, while Diane continued to pursue her nursing career. During this time, Diane worked as the Head Nurse in the operating room at St. Luke’s Hospital in Newburgh, NY, and then for 3 years as an Occupational Health Nurse at Pro-Brush, a division of Standard Oil of Ohio, in Florence, MA, where she served as the only nurse for ~1,000 employees. Diane and Phil ultimately settled in Schenectady County, NY, where Phil worked as a Professor of Civil Engineering at Union College from 1974 until 2003. While in NY, in addition to raising her 2 children, Hillary (born 1974) and Michael (born 1978), Diane returned to school to earn her Bachelor of Science in Community Health at SUNY Empire, and then her Master of Science in Education at SUNY Oneonta. She also completed requirements for her NY State Teacher Certification at SUNY Oswego. Diane had a long and distinguished career as a Registered Nurse and healthcare professional, during which she served in a variety of clinical, education, and insurance-related roles. Highlights include: 5 years as a pre-operative nurse at Bellevue Maternity Hospital in Schenectady, 5 years as a School Nurse Educator at Johnstown Middle School, and 13 years as a medical management nurse at Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield of NY, where she worked as a Project Manager in Medical Claims and Appeals, helping to establish their new division of Education and Development, then as a Senior Appeal Nurse, and finally as a Senior Nurse Case Manager. Earlier in her career, she also spent ~10 years teaching classes on the Lamaze Method of Childbirth at several locations, including the Family Centered Maternity Association in Schenectady, the Community Health Plan in Latham, and the Associates in Women’s Health, Niskayuna. 

 During those years in NY, Diane and Phil established enduring friendships, including a very special ‘Dinners Group’ consisting of 5 couples who, for 25 years, came together several times a year to enjoy meals at one another’s homes, play games such as Trivial Pursuit, take small trips together, and participate in each other’s family celebrations. After 40 years, the remaining members of the group are still good friends and get together on occasion. In 2007, Diane and Phil moved to The Villages, FL. In her retirement, Diane was proud to volunteer for SHINE of Florida as a Counselor, where she helped fellow residents at The Villages to navigate the nuances of the Medicare system. During her retirement, Diane also enjoyed traveling with her husband and parents, who had moved to The Villages following the sudden death of Diane’s sister, Judy (Troll) Brucks, at age 51 in 2008. Diane devotedly cared for both of her parents until their respective deaths: Joe in 2015 at age 95, and Lonnie in 2020 at age 97. Diane and Phil loved spending time with friends and family, especially with their beloved children and grandchildren, and enjoyed their retirement time together in Florida for 9 years until Phil’s passing at age 73 in 2016. Following his death, Diane stayed active in Florida caring for her mother and traveled with good friends and family, especially to majestic locations including many of our National Parks. In 2021, Diane moved back to Massachusetts to be near her children, where she resided in Duxbury and then Quincy until her passing. Diane was known for her fabulous sense of humor. Some of Diane’s favorite hobbies over the years included playing mahjong and bridge, reading - especially the newspaper every morning with her husband, discussing politics, watching movies and documentaries, playing golf, and then in her last couple of years she developed a new passion for K-pop and Korean romance films. Diane is survived by a daughter, Hillary A. (Snow) Rush of Hopkinton and her 4 children with Daniel Rush: William (17), Alexander (15), Noah (13) and Hollyanne (10); and a son, Michael D. Snow of Quincy, MA, and his 3 children with Elizabeth Bevilacqua: Lucas (16), Sean (13), and Joshua (8). She is also survived by two nieces, Kaitlyn (Palmer) Tiffany and Natalee Brucks. 

 A memorial celebration will be planned for the fall of 2024, with details to be shared once confirmed at https://www.eventcreate.com/e/dianesnow. Memorial gifts may be made in Diane's name to Planned Parenthood, or to the Norwell Visiting Nurse Association (NVNA) and Hospice Charitable Fund at https://www.nvna.org/.