Diane E. Yehl (Granath)

Diane Yehl (Granath), born August 6, 1942. to Albert and Genevieve Granath on 53 Rossiter Road in Rochester, New York, died March 16, 2026. Survived by her husband Tom Yehl, beloved sons Paul Yehl (Saledo, Texas), Peter Yehl (Danville, CA), Patrick Yehl (Victor, NY), David Yehl (Minneapolis, MN), daughters Karen Macomber (Spencerport, NY) and Julie Lease (Waxhaw, NC), 15 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, Brother Gary Granath (Penfield, NY), 9 nieces and nephews and countless friends. Diane was the foundation of her family, the cornerstone upon which her children built their own families, careers, faith, ethos, and lives. Diane was Resilient. In the 1990’s, she was diagnosed with metasticized uterine cancer that had ravaged her abdomen. The aggressive treatment she endured to beat it into a permanent remission but was damaging to her remaining organs. It was an unkind but enduring reminder to her and those around her of the preciousness of life. She wore it with grace and as a true Swedish Viking, and she didn’t let it stop her living. She lived to see each of her children have their own children, and experienced joy along side them. She beamed with a silent pride as she saw them blossom into young men and women, knowing without saying that her energy had been transfected multi-generationally. And when she was blessed with great grandchildren in her final years, she simply smiled with gratitude at the bounty of life, for what God had provided her, never for a minute dwelling on her own struggles. She was entering her 80th year when she decided to paint her entire house as a COVID diversion. And paint it she did. A little slower than the old days on the farm, of course, but quite a feat. “Just getting old” she’d say with a wry smile. She continued to refinish furniture, quilt, craft, garden, make preserves out of Tom’s harvests, sew and bake. She even designed and oversaw the installation of the new kitchen she had wanted since the early 1980’s! She had noticed some minor motor control problems, but heck, she was 81. Then one day she fell while weeding her summer flower garden and couldn’t get back to her feet, even with Tom’s help. Her doctor diagnosed her with Parkinson’s in the fall of 2023. She shrugged and went on with life. A cane made it easier to navigate on uneven grass and garden soil - forward she went. She recognized some cognitive changes in Tom around this same time, and it was becoming difficult to care him and manage herself. She stood her ground and insisted they move into a retirement community to make life a bit easier for them both. She found some new friends and group activities, but the disease started to dominate her days and she had to give up driving and caring for Tom, which broke her heart but she wore it with dignity. The cane yielded to a walker. The self care required as an outcome of her prior cancer treatment was harder to assimilate into her day. And the extraordinary abdominal pain she was always able gracefully absorb and manage, without complaint began to dominate her days. She always hesitated to let her family see her suffer. By showing her resilience through what they learned to be perpetual physical hardship, she showed those around her that they too can do hard things. Diane was a nurturer by nature. She realized this from a young age, and became an RN after graduating St. Mary’s out of high school. She mothered and cared for people effortlessly, because caring was not a thing she did but was an extension of who she was. She married Tom in 1965 and quickly set up a home 600 miles from her Rochester roots in West Lafayette, Indiana while he pursued his PhD at Purdue. They got right to work! Baby Paul showed up 9 months later. Followed in rapid succession by Peter, Patrick and David. Four babies in five years, all while in student housing on a petty graduate student stipend. Somehow they were all satiated; it had to be love, because there certainly wasn’t any money. When Tom finished school, they took extended stops in Michigan and eventually found their way back to Rochester in1977. She made homes out of houses, four active boys in tow, and made dear family friends everywhere they lived. After David started school Diane decided she had time and inclination to grow the family even more. In 1979 Julie came, and two years later, Karen. She easily recognized that each child was unique, with their own talents, and she nurtured and cared for each in a way that they would learn to care for themselves. It was the way she loved – with a quiet resolve that built confidence and showed them they could do hard things. When they all successfully flew the nest, to different corners of the US, she realized she still had more to give. She became a home care giver to the elderly for many patients throughout the greater Rochester area. Although she hadn’t worked outside of the home in 30 years, he regularly was given awards by her agency, accolades from its senior management, and special gifts from her patients. She would just blush when we asked her about it. She put everything she had to give into her family, her friendships, and her patients. And when it came time for someone to care for her during her last year of her life, God sent her an angel. As her children and in-laws cycled in regularly to look in on her during this time, she let her guard down and revealed to them a final gift - vulnerability. It was our honor to care for the caregiver. Diane loved quilting - this was fitting because it is an emblem of her life. In quilting, you start out with little fragments of fabric, stitch them together to make them stronger, larger pieces, and eventually create a large blanket. It takes diligence, patience and time. Diane applied this kind of approach to the things in her life. Like magic, she could dissect huge tasks into small parts. Piece by piece, one by one she would execute these smaller tasks, piece them together, and make something beautiful. When her earthly life was coming to an end, she told her children while they gathered around her that they were her pride and joy. They became the fabric of her life, and she was the thread that held everything together during joyous and sorrowful times She did it with grace, humility, elegance and resolve. She will be present in the wind and sunshine we feel, in the energy of our lives, in the prayers we pray. She loved this quote from Emily Dickinson: “You will not see me, so you must have faith, until then, live life to the fullest, and when you need me, just whisper my name in your heart, and I will be there.” Family and friends are invited to Diane’s Funeral Mass Monday, March 30th at 10am at St. Pius Tenth Church, 3000 Chili Avenue Rochester, NY 14624. Inurnment, St. Pius Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Golisano Children's Hospital NICU, 601 Elmwood Avenue Box 651 Rochester, NY 14642. https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1676/giving19/giving19.aspx?sid=1676&gid=2&pgid=727&cid=1557&appealcode=10P00

Diane E. Yehl (Granath)

August 6, 1942 - March 16, 2026