DIANE SHUPE

In loving Memory of DIANE KLINGER SHUPE

May 9, 1945 ~ November 10, 2025

Diane K. Shupe, aged 80 years, 6 months and 1 day passed away peacefully on November 10, 2025, in Dodge City, Kansas. Diane was born on May 9,1945 in Ashland, Kansas to Dwight and Catherine Klinger, the second of their four daughters.

Diane was a fourth generation Clark County resident and proud of her family’s pioneer heritage. She truly loved nature and the Great Plains. She was a lifelong resident of the area except while attending college and a few brief stints away in her early adulthood. She graduated from Ashland High School as Valedictorian in 1963. After graduation she attended Kansas State University, Kansas University, and the University of Wisconsin. She majored in Agricultural Science and upon her return to Ashland in 1966, she engaged in both farming and ranching, in later years as the entity Bear Creek Ranch.

Diane loved being outdoors and taking care of animals. In addition to the dogs and litters of Beagle puppies, there were colts being trained and bucket calves being cared for in the backyard when her children were young. One bucket calf, Barnabas, that she grew attached to become a long-time fixture in the herd peacefully grazing grass until he was 19 years old and weighed 2,000 lbs.

Diane was always friendly; she loved to talk to others with similar interests. One of these conversations resulted in her taking in two miniature Donkeys named Andy and Eeyore who took up residency on Bear Creek Ranch for over two decades with the cattle herd.

Diane was creative and had wide range of interests and hobbies. She would make Halloween costumes for the kids and herself. One of the more elaborate was a Jaws costume built over a frame that made the wearer about seven feet tall. She also had a sense of humor that one Christmas manifested itself in 20 pairs of slippers that looked like bear feet for every family member from size 1 and up.

Diane was involved with community activities of all kinds including promoting the building of the golf course and championing The Great Race. Diane volunteered at the Ashland Grade School as a tutor. During summers she insisted on her kids reading every day for an hour and then staying outside. She was a member of P.E.O., Kansas Livestock Assoc., and several Bible Study groups. She had a generous spirit she would often send flowers or gifts to friends who were distressed.

In the latter decades of her life Diane battled numerous health issues, including mental health and dementia at the end of life. The family is forever grateful for the friends, health care professionals and others that helped her along the way and kept her comfortable at the end.

Diane’s favorite pastime was walking through a pasture or down a country road, with a friend or with her dogs beside her. Her wish was that her ashes be spread on the ranch land she loved so much. She will be at peace.

Diane is survived by her children Carolyn Moore, Glenn Shupe, David Matthews, Nathan Shupe, and Bryan Matthews, 7 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren, 2 sisters Jenison Klinger and Laurel Klinger-Vartabedian, 5 nieces and nephews. Diane was preceded in death by her parents Dwight and Catherine Klinger and her sister Karen Klinger Stripling,

In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made in Diane’s memory to The Ashland Community Foundation.

Memorial gathering at a later date.