Diane Canterbury

Diane Smith Canterbury was born January 31, 1936 and went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, April 30, 2018. Visitation will be held at Lakeside Presbyterian Church Saturday, May 5, at 10:00 AM.  Funeral services will follow at 11:15 AM.

Diane graduated from Mississippi College with a Master of Education in 1969. She taught history at Murrah High School from 1967 to 1997. After retirement she went on to be president of the Rankin County Historical Society and also, volunteered at River Oaks Hospital.

Diane loved teaching earning the designation as a Jackson Public School's Star Teachers.  One of her former students remarked that, "if you talked with her for 5 minutes, you are going to learn something"   Many others have said she "brought history to life", "had a way of making the past current", and "she was a trans-formative person in my young life".  Diane mantra was, "What's the matter?  Are you afraid you are going to learn something?"  One of her proudest accomplishment was born in her advance history class.  As part of a mock presidential election, Lillian Carter, mother of then President Jimmy Carter, came to stump on Jimmy's behalf.

Her passion for teaching was only matched by her quirky sense of humor.  She was never short on material which she often pulled from her scrapbook of comic strips. She once organized and lead a movement at Murrah High School to replace the Mustang mascot with a penguin because of the similar character trait between them and teenagers quoting from "Penguins" by Roger Tory Peterson.  There is "constant bickering" and the "cacophony of greeting, protest and challenge is deafening."

She was a veracious reader, gourmet cook, master solitaire player, superior quilter, and full contact needle pointer. She also dearly loved the Lord and her dear friends at Lakeside Presbyterian Church.

She is preceded in death by her parents Melvin and Fannie Lou Smith, husband, Cris Canterbury and daughter, Lynn. She is survived by her sister Karen Smith; sons Buck (Nancy) and Bill (Sarah). She insisted the 7 grandchildren, Matt (Kacie) Davis, Luke Davis, Heather McLeod, Russell Smith (Shannon), Ryan Canterbury (Sarah), Chase Canterbury (Jenna) and Lance Canterbury, 8 great-grandchildren, Kendall, Mallory, Bridget, Tanner, Dylan, Luke, Caroline and Sam call her by Diane instead of a traditional "nickname".