Diana Lou (Hunter) Coons went home to be with her Lord on January 6, 2025. Diana was born September 11, 1941, in Swaledale, Iowa, in a nursing home birthing room. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband John Omer Coons, her son, Timothy (Priscilla), her beloved son-in-law Kevin (Becky) Wiebe; three brothers, Charles, Roger and David (Saundra) Hunter; her sisters, Mary Beth and Katherine (David) Cortner, and her parents, Leslie and Marian Hunter. She is survived by three of her children, Becky (Gary) Goodwin, Mary (Bob) Turner, and Tom (Elizabeth) Coons, her eight grandchildren, many step-grandchildren, her eight great-grandchildren, and many loving nieces and nephews.

She was a loving wife, mother, pastor’s wife, and LPN. She was raised in Fertile, Iowa, where she graduated from high school. She attended Cedarville College for one year, where she met her future husband, John Coons. She also attended Omaha Baptist Bible College for one year. They were married on June 15, 1962, and had four children. In 1963 while John was still in College, Becky was born. After graduation they lived for a short time in Indiana where Mary was born in 1965. In 1967, John was called to pastor Calvary Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant Iowa. Tim and Tom were both born in Mt. Pleasant. They served there until 1976, when John was called to pastor in Estherville, Iowa. They were there servicing for 3 years. They moved to Jeffers Baptist Church in rural Minnesota in 1979, where they stayed for 11 years. All 4 kids graduated from high school in Jeffers. They then moved to Shell Rock, Iowa and served there for 3 years. John was then called to Kansas City, Kansas to pastor there. John served there until his heart transplant. Diana continued to work as a nurse for several more years before retiring. They served at one final church in Winifred, KS for three years. They then retired to Dayton, OH where Mary lived with her family.

Although she lived with Alzheimer’s Disease for eighteen years, she never lost God’s gift of a sweet and kind spirit. Workers in her home and later in her nursing home commented often about how sweet she always was.

A Funeral Service will be held 6pm Thursday January 9, 2025 at Washington Heights Baptist Church 5650 Far Hills Ave. Dayton, OH 45429. Visitation will start one hour prior at the church. Arrangements entrusted with Baker Hazel & Snider Funeral Home. Online memories and condolences may be left for the family at www.bakerhazelsnider.com 

A Funeral Service will be held 11AM Monday January 13, 2025 at Jeffers Baptist Church 48558 State Hwy 30, Jeffers, MN 56145. The family will receive friends 10AM until time of service at the church. Immediately following Burial at Jeffers Cemetery, Minnesota. Arrangements entrusted with Westbrook Funeral Home in Westbrook, MN.

Eulogy by John Coons

Diana Lou (Hunter) Coons was raised in a poor family in northern Iowa.  She was the second child born to Leslie and Marian Hunter.  While there were six children born to her parents, only 3 survived to adulthood.  Charles died at 14 and Mary Beth at a few days old, both of Cystic Fibrosis. Roger died at 14 when he stepped on a live electrical wire after a storm.  Diana began attending a mission church in Fertile, Iowa, and accepted Christ as her personal Savior at church camp.  As a teenager, she began attending youth meetings at Calvary Baptist Church in Forest City, Iowa, and joined the church.   After graduating high school, she worked in Waterloo, Iowa at a grocery store for a year to earn money for college.  At Cedarville her freshman year and Omaha Baptist Bible College her sophomore year, she took Bible classes and other classes to assist her in being a good pastor’s wife.  Thirteen months after Diana and John married, their first child was born.  John graduated from school four years after they first met and was called to become a pastor.  She loved being a pastor’s wife and enjoyed playing the piano for churches where her husband preached.  She sang solos, as well as singing in the choir, sometimes even leading the choir, in the churches as well.  Diana worked with the children in every church they served in.  She loved serving the Lord anywhere needed.   After her children were all in school, she went to work so that her husband could give up his second job, devoting more time to the ministry.  In 1982, Diana returned to college to become an LPN.  She graduated first in her class with highest honors, and passed her state boards on the first try.  She began working as a nurse, which she continued doing for 23 years.  She was a loving wife, mother and pastor’s wife, honoring the Lord anyway she could.  Several came to accept the Lord through her faithful teaching of the Word.  Today we celebrate her Godly life and promotion to heaven and desire to give God all the Glory.  Diana’s desire was that each one search their heart and be sure of your salvation.