Diane Silbernagel

Diane Janet Silbernagel, 65, daughter of Olaf and Mabel (Maki) Wainio was born in Bismarck, North Dakota on September 14, 1945. She ended her two year struggle with pancreatic cancer at home with her family on April 1, 2011. She was raised in Mandan, North Dakota where she took piano and tap dance lessons and worked on the Mandan High School paper, was a cheerleader and graduated in 1963. In the summer of 1964 she met Ernie Silbernagel on a sandbar on the Missouri River. They were married August 13, 1966 and she worked in the lab at St. Ansgar Hospital in Moorhead, MN until Ernie graduated from college. She received a medical secretary certificate from Bismarck Junior College in 1966 and graduated from Mankato State University with a degree in Business Education. They moved to St. Peter, MN in 1968, living there and on Lake Jefferson near Cleveland, MN. They had two children, Jason, 1970 and Kelly 1972. She began working at the St. Peter Herald in the fall of 1972 as a typesetter, became the newspaper photographer and eventually editor. Ernie and Diane purchased the Eagle Bend News and Bertha-Hewitt Herald newspapers in 1979. They embarked on 20 years of building a community news source that eventually expanded to include the Clarissa Independent in 1992. Diane was an accomplished photographer who framed her outstanding photos with her left eye. She was also a gifted writer, mother, wife and friend. Hearing the call of the loon, they sold the newspaper and print shop in 2000 and moved to Lake Carlos near Carlos, MN. Diane continued to work as the Business Manager for Theatre L'Homme Dieu for five years, a position that she loved and adored and brought many wonderful friends and loved ones into her and Ernie's lives. Diane is well-known for her green thumb and loved to create elaborate and beautiful flower gardens. She enjoyed sharing her vegetable harvests with everyone around her. Summer family reunions, campfires, boating around the lake, quilting, aerobics, biking and annual winter trips to Outdoor Resorts on Long Key, Florida kept her active physically and mentally. She was proud to say she was 100% Finnish and she had Sisu. In fact, she accomplished a Finnish right of passage by jumping through a hole in a frozen lake after a hot sauna. Her motto, "Create", is posted in her sewing room. She was preceded in death by her parents and some very close friends. She is survived by her husband, Ernie John Silbernagel of Carlos, MN and two children Kelly Jean Silbernagel of Alameda, CA and Jason John Silbernagel of St. Paul, MN; one sister, Ardeth (Joel) Hurvitz of Sherman Oaks, CA; one cousin Kathy (Darrell) Barnhardt of Salem Oregon, ten brother and sister-in-laws, and many nieces and nephews. Visitation will be Friday, April 8 from 5p.m.-7p.m. at Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria. Memorial service will be held Saturday, April 9 at 3p.m. (visitation begins at 2p.m.) at Faith Lutheran Church, Eagle Bend. Inurnment will be at the Finnish Aholan Cemetery in Wing, North Dakota. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Diane Silbernagel Memorial Fund, ?G First State Bank, P.O. Box 38, Carlos MN, 56319. Donations will be made in memory of Diane to Theatre L'Homme Dieu and to pancreatic cancer research. Arrangements are with the Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria. www.andersonfuneral.net