Diels Remembered

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone, I thought you would all like to see what I wrote for the

obituary. This will be in our local paper on saturday and in the

Beaver Dam paper. Please note that I originally had three times this

written, but I needed to cut it down somewhat. I think I kept

everything that needed to be kept...I could write forever about her

and much of it was blabbering originally. (kind of like what I'm

doing now) ~tracyjane

Diels, J.

MADISON, WI – J. Diels, age 28, passed away the morning of

Thursday, October 26, 2006 at UW Hospital in Madison. She was born

on April 7, 1978 to parents and Jeanette Diels. lived

with type I/II SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) that challenged her

physically, but not mentally. She did not require an able body to

live life. In fact, was currently attending college and

taking courses in web design, and was well on her way to starting her

own web design business. We remember as a kind,

compassionate, flirtatious young woman with a fiery spirit and a

brilliant mind. She had a passion for the arts—poetry, writing,

graphic design, music, theater and film. Beck had a great sense of

humor, calling herself, " a tad sarcastic, " and referring to her

stomach tube as a " belly piercing. " had strong opinions and

made it clear that she, and any other physically challenged person,

deserved respect and the ability to make their own decisions about

health care and daily living. Her hope was to educate the ignorant—

she was disappointed in the lack of interest in Spinal Muscular

Atrophy and went to great lengths to change this. Beck has dedicated

the past several years of her life to connecting those afflicted with

SMA by creating an SMA friends list that currently has over 400

members. They now have a forum to, in her own words, " chat, laugh,

learn, cry, relate, and help, " which will continue forever in her

memory. Beck also helped organize SMA fund raising events, and was

vice president of the Wisconsin chapter of Families of Spinal

Muscular Atrophy. She was preceded in death by her brother ph,

grandfathers Reuben Diels and Stanley Soboleski, and her beloved pets

Penny and Cleo. is survived by: her mother Jeanette; father

; brother (); sister Diane; " sister " Jane;

nephews Jake, Josh, and Aidan; nieces Wynn and Paige; grandparents;

best friends Icelica, Phil, and Toby; and many other friends and

relatives. Visitation will be held at Gunderson East Funeral Home

(5203 Monona Drive) in Madison on Sunday October 29 from 3-5 p.m.

with a service immediately following. Funeral and burial will be on

Monday October 30 at 11 a.m. at St. 's Cemetery in Beaver

Dam. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Diels Memorial

Fund would be greatly appreciated. For more information on SMA,

please visit www.fsma.org.