April 15, 1948 – March 6, 2025
Diana M.”Dee Dee” Heinrich, 76, of Schulenburg passed away on Thursday, March 6, 2025 at Regency Nursing Center after a long battle with cancer.
Funeral/memorial services for Diana M. Winkler Heinrich, 76, of High Hill were held at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 17 at St. Mary Church in High Hill with Fr. Jasper Liggio officiating. The parish rosary was held at 10:30 a.m. The Schulenburg American Legion Auxiliary Unit 143 conducted a short service immediately following the rosary. Interment of the ashes followed in St. Mary Catholic Church Cemetery in High Hill.
Dee Dee was born on April 15, 1948 to Alfred and Leona Winkler of Schulenburg. She graduated from Bishop Forest High School in May of 1966, after which she moved to Houston to pursue her career. She became an administrative assistant at Dresser Industries. During her career, she worked in the oil and gas industry with a number of companies, finally retiring in 2014 from Oxy Petroleum as a contract analyst for the legal department. Shortly after retirement, she was diagnosed with cancer and fought it for 11 years. Her real passion in life was decorating. At one point in her career, she quit her job and bought into the “Decorating Den” franchise and pursed this endeavor for over 4 years, before returning to the oil and gas industry due to the highly competitive field in decorating. However, that did not stop her. She decorated her home while living in Pearland and then again in Schulenburg. She helped many local residents with decorating ideas. She had a very artistic mind and amazed many of her friends with her ability to take a bare room and make it look like something out of a homes and gardens magazine. Her uncanny eye to coordinate colors and make a room look comfortable amazed many of her friends. She loved crafty things and was extremely talented at coming up with unique ideas with wreaths, jewelry and flower arrangements.
She was known for her witty humor and ability to charm anyone. In particular, she was known for her color coordinated fun hats that she wore when her hair was no longer there. Her ability to plan for events and make them fun and enjoyable was noticed by everyone with whom she came in contact. Her step-daughter, Stacey, and her husband and family provided her with the most joy – from cuddling up Stacey as a child on the ferry trip to Bolivar to making her favorite foods to watching cartoons with her, to help plan and attend life events such as graduations and her wedding. Dee Dee made all the festive wands for the Grand March at her wedding. She never missed sending cards and gifts at holidays, birthdays and life events. Whenever the grandkids would visit, the house had to be perfect from their favorite foods to the “show towels” in the bathroom. The grandkids loved playing games when they came to visit, especially bingo. Erik, the son-in-law, remembered how thoughtful she was when he forgot his dirty shoes at the farm house and was surprised when they came back to him in the mail along with flowers and his favorite hot sauce.
Delores, her sister, was very close to Dee Dee. Regardless of problems they stuck together. Weekly phone calls were the norm. She remembers once when they got in trouble as kids and they ran out of the house and their mom said: “just wait until daddy comes home, you will really get it.” They knew he would spank them so they decided to hide out in the pasture until they sat down on a “burn nettle” weed. They ran back in the house because that hurt worse than a spanking. Delores admired Dee Dee’s creative talent and was always the first in line for her “throw aways.” She marveled at Dee Dee for her strength and grace and that she always had a smile on her face, even when her health problems became worse.
Dee Dee was also very close with her niece Cecily and nephew John. Delores’ kids were almost like Dee Dee’s own. She showered them with gifts and treats. She made sure they knew how much she loved them. Every one of their life events was celebrated and important to her. At Christmas time and on birthdays, they were assured to have many gifts and generous expressions of love. As children, Bob and Dee Dee would take them to a rented beach house at Port Bolivar and spend weekends there on the beach and playing games. Cecily remembers that Dee Dee would call her “MFA” My Favorite Aunt. Dee Dee would call her “MFN” My Favorite Niece. John remembers the beach trips and going to the flea market to get that year’s full set of baseball cards.
She was a member of St. Mary Parish in High Hill and served in an officer position in the Schulenburg Literary Club in Schulenburg. She lived on the Heinrich Farm, north of Schulenburg, a farm that has been in agricultural business since 1875.
Diana is survived by husband, Bob Heinrich; step-daughter, Stacey Heinrich Smatresk and husband Erik; three grandchildren, Sidney, Ryker and Barrett of Argyle; sister and brother-in-law, Delores and Burl Smith of Seguin; niece and nephew, Cecily Chappell and John Roensch; and a great-niece, Erika, and great-nephew, Christian.
Diana was preceded in death by her parents, Alfred and Leona Winkler.