SKOWHEGAN – Diane Engler passed away unexpectedly at 3 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, at RFGH in Skowhegan, in the arms of her husband Bruce, with sons, Dylan and Gavin at her side. Diane had fought a brief battle against pneumonia, but after six years of fighting off three different types of cancers, her body had no more fight left in it. Diane was just seven weeks shy of her 71st birthday.

Diane was born on Nov. 24, 1951, to Dr. Ernest and Phyllis Kearney of Waterville Maine, both originally from New Brunswick, Canada. Ernie was a Chiropractor in Waterville and Phyllis was a school teacher and then an Elementary Principal for many years. Diane attended Waterville public schools and developed an interest in becoming an educator during this time of her young life.

After high school, Diane enrolled at the University of Maine at Farmington to study elementary education, and received a Bachelors of Science degree with an early childhood concentration in 1974. That is also the year that Diane married Bruce Engler, her high school sweetheart, and they bought land in Skowhegan with plans to build a home and start a family. Once certified to teach, Diane dedicated her next 47 years working for MSAD 49, at the Clinton and Benton Elementary Schools, holding various positions, but always focused within literacy. Diane worked as a Title 1 Reading Teacher, Title 1/Chapter 1 Coordinator, Title 1 Summer School Teacher, Reading Recovery Teacher, and Comprehensive Literacy Intervention Specialist. Diane was a true lifelong learner, and continued her education throughout her career, earning a Master’s Degree in Education with a literacy concentration, then becoming certified through the Maine DOE as a Curriculum Coordinator, Education Specialist, and Comprehensive Literacy Intervention Specialist. She also worked for a few years as an Adjunct Professor for the University of Maine at Orono, working with other educators to improve their work within literacy. Teaching students to become literate was Diane’s job, but helping kids develop those literacy skills into a self-sustaining appetite and appreciation for literature was Diane’s passion.

Diane loved teaching, but she also loved spending time with those she loved, within her family and through vast social circles. When not at school, Diane enjoyed spending time at home with her family; a log home that she and Bruce built in 1977 nestled in an 82-acre pine forest in Skowhegan. There, she could usually be found enjoying her hobbies; gardening and tending to flowers, baking sweets to share with family and friends, or reading – as she always had a book or two that she carried with her, anywhere and everywhere. When not at home, Diane loved to take day trips with Bruce; drives through the mountains to view the foliage, hikes to waterfalls, or day trips to the coast to see a lighthouse they hadn’t visited yet, or just to find a lobster pound to eat at. Diane also loved spending time at the family property on McGrath Pond in Oakland, a camp that her father built in the late ’40s and early ’50s. Diane loved to sit in the sun by the lake, reading a book, watching and waving to the boats going by, and listening for the call of the loons – often calling back to them. Diane grew up summering on McGrath Pond, she watched both of her sons grow up doing the same, and in recent years she’s been able to watch her grandchildren enjoy the family camp as well. With this multigenerational connection to camp on McGrath, we will surely feel her presence there, now and always.

Diane was predeceased by her parents, Dr. Ernest and Phyllis Kearney, and her half-sister Sharon Kunkle. Diane is survived by Bruce Engler of Skowhegan (her loyal and loving husband of the past 48 years and partner for the past 54 years); son Dylan Engler and partner Sheri Harris of Oakland; son Gavin Engler and wife Sonia of Brunswick; granddaughter Lailah Sher and grandsons Ezra, Jonah, and Aviel Engler; and niece Kathy Dunton of North Carolina. Diane is also survived by a multitude of close friends and extended family – you all know who you are. Lastly, Diane is survived by hundreds and hundreds of students, over decades of teaching, to all of whom she gave the gift of knowledge through the ability to read – which will be her everlasting legacy.

In all of the correspondence the family has received since Diane’s passing, through cards and letters, phone calls and texts, social media posts and driveway visits, a few themes have developed very quickly and clearly in how she was seen and perceived by others around her, whether it was a close friend or just an acquaintance; friendly, thoughtful, caring, positive, supportive, loyal, committed, fun, loving, and KIND. Diane had a curiosity about people she met that always pushed her to ask questions, to get to know everyone, and through those conversations to find connections between their lives and hers. And somehow she remembered all of it, all of those connections to people – and that’s how she showed she cared. Her care for the people she knew, through the connections that she made – that was a big part of her love language. And those admirable qualities, all encompassed within a truly positive person, and truly unique individual, will be sorely missed among us all…

The family has planned a Celebration of Life for Saturday November 5, at 2 p.m., to take place at the Federated Church in Skowhegan, with Reverend Mark Tanner officiating. Attendees are welcomed to bring a side dish to share at the potluck gathering after the Memorial, and also encouraged to bring photos of Diane to share with the family. For those wishing to make a donation, the family will be collecting money to fund a literacy program in Diane’s name. 

The family wishes to thank Dr. Matthew Dugan and his amazingly compassionate team at New England Cancer Specialists in Scarborough, as well as the hospice care staff at RFGH in Skowhegan in caring for Diane.