January 8, 1946 ~ February 6, 2023
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5.
Diane Landry Hughes, 77, a Hammond native, born on January 8, 1946, began her journey with the Lord on February 6, 2023, after a hard-fought battle with cancer. Although she faced many challenges in life, she overcame them with strong faith, grace, and humility. She inspired others by making a beautiful life for herself and her family.
Diane was known for her love of learning and was a dedicated teacher, even after retirement. Her days were filled with including caring for her 97-year-old mother, fulfilling various volunteer duties at New Beginnings Christian Church, remaining active in Delta Kappa Gamma — a professional society for women educators, tutoring students in her home and doting on her four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
She had a love for math and science, and shared that excitement for decades, both in the classroom and in her personal life. This passion was enhanced by her extensive university and graduate studies, at both SLU and LSU, in the fields of education, anatomy, and physiology.
Diane is preceded in death by her father, Felix Jerome “Jerry” Landry Sr., and her sister, Lynn Landry Davis. She is survived by her mother, Frances Jordan Landry, her children, Karen Hughes Smith (Rob) and Mark Hughes (Jennifer), her brother, Jerry Landry Jr. (Joann), her grandchildren, Madison Cleary (Collin), Morgan Landry Messina, Audrey Hughes and Cooper Landry Hughes, her great-grandchildren, Everett and Emilia Cleary, her nephews, Chip McIntosh (Lisa) and Jared Landry (Piper), her niece, Kate McIntosh Midkiff (Wade), her great-niece, Abigail Midkiff, her great-nephew, Jacob Midkiff, a close family friend, Dr. Joseph Danford (Beth), and many beloved friends and family members across the United States.
A Celebration of Life will be held at New Beginnings Christian Church — 42418 S. Range Rd, Hammond, LA 70403, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 12th. In lieu of flowers, donations to New Beginnings Christian Church would be appreciated.
Diane’s family wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Bertha and Janice, special friends who have touched the hearts of our entire family.
3 comments
Mittie Rohner
February 24, 2023 at 3:18 pm
Rest in peace, Diane. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
Olin Joynton
February 21, 2023 at 12:53 pm
You’re unlikely to meet a lovelier person than Diane. Her radiance lit up the room. Her mirth pulled everybody in. She drove a British sports car in college, so she knew how to have fun. What a great story-teller! Like the one about being in her fourth calculus course before it made sense to her. (I can relate.) Or the one about how a Landry forebear switched religions because of his allegedly fake marriage.
Diane brought out the best in everyone. So many followed her example to become the best they could be. Always a lady, she maintained dignity and hope through challenges that would do in most of us. Most of all, she received so much love because she gave so much. She really got it what life is all about.
Stan Joynton
February 9, 2023 at 1:21 pm
This is what I have just written to my friends about Diane:
My cousin Diane Landry Hughes died just a few days ago at age 77. For an ordinary person, this passing might have been . . . ordinary. But Diane was exceptional. She was a high school science teacher and decades ago was in a complicated marriage that ended when her husband shot her, leaving her a paraplegic, and then himself. Lynne and I really came to know her better in 2019 when we visited her in Houston where she underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer. She was amazingly upbeat, intelligent, and considerate—and never complained. She lived a remarkably independent life nearly until the end, having perfectly fitted her house and car for her wheelchair. Her home was filled with joy and laughter. Despite what she endured at his hand, she described her deceased husband with empathy for his struggle with personal demons. She and her now-96-year-old mother lived in separate homes on a few acres outside of Hammond, Louisiana, which became a gathering place for her two children and large extended family every Thanksgiving for as long as I remember. We, and all 30-40 of them, will miss her dearly.
Rest in peace, Diane.