Diane Pfaff Obituary

As the Havdalah candle was extinguished on Saturday 1/10/26 Diane Rachelle Pfaff (née Zabel) died surrounded by her family in the same living room where she has welcomed so many over the decades. She had a magnetic personality accompanied by a frequent laugh and sharp wit. She loved nothing more than hearing people's stories. She was born to Tillie Zabel (née Spiwak) and Edward Zabel on 11/17/1941 and raised by her bohemian mother with her two vibrant sisters surrounded by extended family in the Fairfax Village neighborhood of Los Angeles.

She left high school early to start her own family with Tom Kidson whom she met working at the Hollywood Farmers Market, selling oranges to the stars. They moved to Burlingame, CA where she raised four children and earned her nursing degree through the College of San Mateo following the end of her marriage. Diane loved adventures and was not afraid of anything but heights, taking the kids camping all over the American West in their VW bus.

Continuing to surround herself with fascinating, brilliant people, she was working as a psychiatric nurse when she met Roland Pfaff and married him. Together they helped establish and run an adolescent psychiatric unit at Contra Costa County Hospital and added three more children to 'Diane's Kids'.

In 1982 they moved up to Joyce, WA where they ran the Joyce General Store for many years. After passing the store onto other family members, she worked for the Lower Elwha Head Start as a parent coordinator and then for Peninsula College supporting families in Neah Bay and Forks, pulling so many more people into her fold.

Diane was always bringing people together and helped plan Womanfest, countless basketball tournaments, Hanukkah parties, and the original Joyce Daze. She and Roland were deeply involved in the Jewish Community which continued to surround her with love through her last days. Diane adored babies and young children and was an avid grandmother, as well as frequently a foster parent and respite provider, always filling her house with music and joyful voices.

Diane loved gardening and baking and swimming and the Seahawks and dogs and laughing and beating us all at cards.

She lived independently in the family home until her last breath and she was never without a friend or family member at her side or on the other end of the phone. We will all miss being part of her whimsical universe of love and caring.

She is preceded in death by her husband Roland Pfaff, son Jacob Pfaff, grandson Mike E Kidson, and brother David Zabel. She is survived by her sisters Joyce Weinberg and Sandy Lutzker; her children Davida Wolf, Michael Kidson, Daniel Kidson, Jeremy Kidson, Rebecca Pfaff, Catherine Pfaff; son-in-law Richard Preston; nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren, and so many others she gathered into her circle along the way.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to First Step Family Support, Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, Habitat for Humanity, or Best Friend's Pet Care.