A Tribute To My Loving Wife Diana Schaeperkoetter (a.k.a. Branson Mom)
What can I say that truly
personifies Branson Mom. I could
start with her life and move on from there.
Diana was born in St. Louis on January 18, 1963.
She lived in Florissant, Mo most of her life.
I met her in the Spring of 1983 at Meramec Community College in St.
Louis. She studied for and got her
associates degree in Horticulture. She
moved with me to Columbia, Mo in 1984 after getting engaged.
I always wanted to take her to a lake to propose to her but it didn’t
quite happen that way. We picked
out the ring together and she knew when it would be ready.
We were in my car, in the rain, going to White Castle hamburgers in South
St. Louis County for a late night snack when she asked if I got the ring.
I kept changing the subject but she kept insisting.
I didn’t want to wait to ask her anyway since I knew she was my soul
mate. She was my better half and I
never wanted to loose her, so I asked her right then and there.
I already knew the answer but there I was, asking my one and only to be
my wife. We were married on August
16, 1986. It was the happiest days
of my life. The next chapter in out lives was when my son was born, August 11, 1988,
the second happiest day of my life. He
is our pride and joy. We decided
early on that Diana would be a stay at home mom and make sure Steve grew up with
one of us being there all the time. I
think we made the right decision. Many
kids have love from their parents, but don’t have their attention.
I am proud to say that Steve is a straight A student.
I attribute his success to him (of course) and Diana.
She was very diligent about making sure Steve had every opportunity to
excel.
We moved to Branson in January
2000. We had been coming to Branson
every open weekend we had and were planning to move here after retiring.
When the neighborhood we lived in started to get bad, it just so happened
I lost my job to layoffs. I had
applied to many places for a new job. Diana
suggested applying in Springfield and Branson also.
I got a job in Springfield so we moved.
Best thing we could have done. The
schools are great and the town is filled with people who think everyone is
family. When we first moved here,
we did find it difficult to get information about the area, shows, practically
everything. Diana brought the idea
of a web site to me and I though it was a great thing to do.
Diana was always a giving person. She
never thought about herself before everyone else was taken care of first.
I fought her just to get her things she needed so a web site to help
others was right up her alley.
She would go out of her way to help others.
If anyone asked a question and she couldn’t answer right away, she
would take a “strip trip”. Many
a night she would tell me that we needed to find out this or that for someone in
need. After I came home from work
we discussed our day apart. I
talked about work, who did what and what computer I had to fix and what show was
moving to a different theater … and so on.
Diana’s day was filled with Steve, the house, and who was asking what
question. It was also filled with
her beloved message board “ www.1branson.com/forum “. She never asked for
anything in return for her help, nor did she ever think about putting ads on her
page to help pay for the cost to run it. She
was asked several times to come to a show so she could put in a good word, but
she refused to go. She wanted to
make sure that her opinion was unbiased so she remained anonymous till the day
she died. Diana passed away on October 25, 2005.
She woke up on the 24th with her left leg swollen twice the
size of the right. They diagnosed
her condition as blood clots and told her not to move from the bed.
The staff took her to her room and moved her from the emergency room bed
to the standard room bed and three of the clots broke free, one to each lung and
one to her heart. The doctors
worked on her for four hours to stabilize her.
She was in a coma and stayed that way till she passed away.
I’m glad she didn’t suffer, but it was way too soon for me.
She will be missed by her family and friends but never forgotten.
I will make sure that her mission to help people coming to Branson will
live on in her absence. Below are pictures of her.
If I’m not in the picture, I took the picture. LOL In the true
tradition of Branson Mom (aka Diana Schaeperkoetter), I leave you with these
words, I hope this helps. Let
me know if you need anything else.
