1939 – 2014

NORWAY — Diane P. (Cowles) Rawding, 74, of South Paris, passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Norway Center for Health and Rehabilitation.

She was born on Oct. 18, 1939, in Springfield, Mass., to Anna and Walter Cowles. She graduated from Cathedral High School in Springfield, Mass., and married Norman Rawding on March 26, 1964.

From 1964 to 1988, Diane and Norman lived in East Hartford, Conn., then moved to South Paris. Diane worked in several different fields. She worked at Valley Bank in Springfield, Mass.; was director of religious education at Blessed Sacrament Church in East Hartford, Conn.; bereavement volunteer for Androscoggin Health Services in the Norway area; and a call center representative at ICT in Oxford.

She was an avid quilter, having created hundreds of quilts, and she also loved word-search puzzles and shopping whenever she could.

Diane is survived by her husband, Norman, of South Paris. She was a loving mother to two children, Brian and his wife, Ellen, of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Melinda and her husband, Marc Pontbriand, of Lewiston. She also leaves four stepchildren, Larry Rawding of Winchendon, Mass., Lynn Reynolds and her husband, Dan, of Oxford, Randy Rawding and his wife, Rochelle, of Norway and Edwin Rawding of Norway; 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Diane also leaves two sisters, Jane Bacon of Amherst, Mass., and Kathleen Cowles of Springfield, Mass.; a sister-in-law, Jean Cowles, of Wilbraham, Mass.; and 16 nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents, her mother- and father-in-law, three sisters and a brother.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.oxfordhillsfuneralservices.com.