Diana H. Hillstead

Diana H. Hillstead, 82, of Wisconsin Rapids, died Wednesday evening, July 30, 2025, at Aspirus Wausau Hospital following a five-year struggle with cancer.

Diana was born on May 6, 1943, in Gilman, Wisconsin to Stanley and Rose (Glebke) Liazuk. In 1961, she graduated from Gilman High School, where she was class valedictorian. She later attended Wisconsin State University-Eau Claire and graduated in 1965 with degrees in Physical Education and Biology.

Later in 1965, Diana moved to Wisconsin Rapids and began teaching girls’ physical education at Lincoln High School. It was here that she met math teacher Jon Hillstead, and the two were married on June 8, 1968, at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. They had two children, Daniel Jon and Jeffrey Paul. Diana continued teaching full-time until 1974, when she quit to focus on raising her family. However, her love of teaching kept her busy as a substitute teacher in the Rapids school district for decades afterward. She also worked as a Sunday School teacher at St. Luke’s and as an aerobic dancing instructor in the early 1980s.

Diana enjoyed playing golf (especially with the Ridges golf league), making holiday crafts, and cooking and exchanging recipes with friends. She also loved gardening and took great care of her vegetable and flower gardens surrounding her home in the Weslan subdivision. Diana often took advantage of summer vacations by traveling; among her favorite destinations were Las Vegas, New York, Dollywood, Hawaii, Italy, the former Telemark Ski Lodge, and Estero, Florida, where she and Jon rented a condo and visited friends every March for over ten years. Diana and her extended family also spent nearly every summer in the 1980s vacationing at one of several resorts near lakes such as Lake Namakagon and Thousand Island Lake.

Diana is survived by her husband, Jon; her son, Daniel (Krista) Hillstead and their children Jaydon and Sawyer; her son, Jeffrey Hillstead; her sisters, Ellen Liazuk, Carolyn (Allen) Siok and Jayne Kaczmarcik; her sisters-in-law, Rita, Nancy and Juanita Liazuk, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rose and Stanley; her brothers, Ronald (in infancy), Robert, Gary "Butch" and Bruce; her sister-in-law Evelyn “Penny,” and her nephew, Brian.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. A visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. until the start of the service.