Diana Rae Goos

November 27, 1947 – August 14, 2026

If you knew Diana Rae Goos, you knew that she was not someone who simply passed through your life. She became part of it.

Diana, 78, of Oacoma, left this world peacefully on August 14, 2026, at Sanford in Chamberlain, surrounded by the care of hospice and the love of those who mattered most.

She was born November 27, 1947, to Roscoe and Doris Huston. On Valentine’s Day in 1976, Diana married Patrick Goos, beginning a 50-year love story that would become the foundation of their family. Together, they raised four children and built a life filled with family, friends, hard work, laughter, and more than a few stories that will undoubtedly continue to be told.

Diana spent 37 years teaching elementary students—a career that was far more than a job. She had a gift for helping children learn, grow, and believe in themselves. She gave pieces of herself to generations of students, and those pieces will continue to live on in the people she taught.

But Diana’s classroom wasn’t the only place where she taught.  

She taught people how to show up for one another. 

How to help without being asked.

How to make a gathering feel like home.

How a batch of something homemade could say “I love you” without saying a word.

Diana found joy in baking and sewing, and she had a special talent for turning those hobbies into gifts for the people around her. She loved hosting family events, bringing people together, and making sure there was always something to eat, something to talk about, and a reason to stay just a little longer.

She gave her time freely—to organizations she cared about, to family and friends who needed a hand, and to people who simply crossed her path. Helping others wasn’t something Diana needed recognition for. It was simply part of who she was.

Her greatest accomplishment, though, was her family.

Diana leaves behind her husband of 50 years, Patrick; her four children, Marlena (Jim) Monsebroten, John Goos, Kristina (Wade) Braaten, and Diedre Goos; her grandchildren, Seth (Abi), Jessie, Kaleah, Addison, and Bryce; and her newest and youngest source of joy, great-granddaughter Grace.

She also leaves behind her brother, Jud Huston; sister, Barb Miles; and many cousins, friends, former students, and others whose lives were touched by hers.

There will be no way to summarize Diana’s life in a few paragraphs. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, teacher, baker, seamstress, helper, host, friend—and probably a few other things depending on who you ask.

And perhaps that is the best way to remember her.

Not by the date she was born.

Not by the date she died.

But by all the little pieces of life in between.

Remember Diana when you bake something from scratch.

When you sit around a table with people you love.

When you lend a hand because someone needs it.

When you teach a child something they didn’t know.

When you pull out a needle and thread.

When family gathers and the house gets a little too loud.

Remember her in the ordinary things.

Because Diana spent her life making ordinary things meaningful.

And while her chair at the table may now be empty, her place in this family—and in the hearts of so many others—never will be.

A special thank you to the Sanford Chamberlain Hospice Team and Hospice Unit for all the care given to Diana. 

Services are pending.