On the evening of New Year’s Day 2025, Diane B. Orton, our beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend, passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home. Diane was born in Tooele Utah to Ray and Anna Bevan and was the cherished sister of Joan Shippen and Renee Malouf (Craig). She met her husband and soulmate, Kenny Orton, on a blind date. Together, they built a beautiful life and raised six children: Mark, Doug, Michelle, David, Sean and Scott (Kimberly). Diane’s legacy also includes eleven grandchildren: Sarah (Tyler), Rebekah, Hannah, Corbin, Alexandra (Zach), Samuel, Anna, Chloe, Kaya, Kenny and Kassandra and two great grandchildren, Rowan and Felix. Diane was preceded in death by her parents, husband Kenny, son Doug and granddaughter Hannah.
After Kenny’s passing, Diane returned to school at BYU where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English while contributing to the family business, Bookcraft Publishing. Her passion for literature shone through as she read and reviewed countless manuscripts. Diane’s love of literature remained a defining feature of her life, oftentimes reading more than one book a week.
A devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Diane faced the challenges in her life with unwavering faith. She served in nearly every church calling, always going above and beyond. Diane was also known for her extraordinary cooking, providing meals to countless individuals in times of need.
Diane’s talent for hosting made her gatherings unforgettable. Her grandchildren fondly recall that “parties at Grandma’s house were the highlight of my childhood.” As the “Queen of Cute”, Diane found joy in crafting, quilting, cross-stitching, painting, sewing and decorating. Her close bond with her surrogate daughter, Joylyn Cluny, led to many quilting conventions and adventures across the country in search of fabric.
Diane was an active participant in her community, belonging to various book clubs, craft clubs, a doll club, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and the Utah MRAU.
Special thanks go to Dave Orton, who lovingly provided round-the-clock care for Diane during the last five years of her life, allowing her to remain in her home.
Per Diane’s wishes, private graveside services will be held, along with a celebration of her incredible life.
Guestbook/Condolences
I have been honored to serve as Diane’s primary care physician during the last almost 30 years. She has been wonderful to work with. I am glad that I was able to talk to her a couple of times in the last week as we discussed Hospice Care. She loved to talk books and for many years gifted Barnes and Noble book cards. I will always remember the Thanksgiving she and Renae brought me homemade pies. She donated countless books to the local libraries. Great Lady. It was a privilege to know her
My mom, Bette Clayton, considered Diane (and Joylyn) among her dearest friends. She spoke often of their wonderful times spent together. May your family feel peace and joy in Diane’s well lived life.
My sympathies to the Orton family. May her memory be a blessing. I was privileged to know some of her kids (Sean and Scott). Prayers go out for God's peace at this time of loss.
To the Diane Orton family and friends,
Diane is an amazing friend and teacher. Everything she did turned out amazingly beautiful.
She was the one with the plans and Ideas and I just followed in her footsteps. We met wonderful people along the way, and I have great memories of the fun things she decided it was time to learn. We tole painted for many years and then one day she announced we were going to learn to quilt, and we did. We shared many fun times with the Doll Club ladies and laughed a lot.
She wanted to travel and so we did. We only had one scary airplane flight to Kansas was during a tornado, but many good times in a car. She was very good at talking and giving directions. I love to find funny things and one time she let me go back 50 miles to get a picture of a bill board that I found so funny. Another time we drove for miles in the wrong direction because there were no beautiful mountains to help us know which direction were going, like there are in Utah. We were both so happy when the cars added directional finders North, South, East and West directions, in the cars. This was before GPS.
We laughed a lot, learned a lot and created many projects. I have many of her recipes but with all of her help I could not make cooking work like hers. She is missed greatly but I have so much that will constantly remind me of her and all that we did together. I am a better person because of her example. I will miss visiting her. Thanks to her Children and Grandchildren for sharing her with me. Love, Joylyn