Mary Lee Dimond

Mary Lee was born September 18, 1931 at Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Illinois. She was the only child of Mary Blanche (Howerton) Hill and Joseph Lee Hill. She passed away peacefully on April 17, 2026 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Mary Lee was a strong, intelligent woman – traits she learned in her childhood home. Her mother was the breadwinner. Blanche was a teacher at several schools, most notably in Golden, Illinois and Harlem High School near Rockford, Illinois. Blanche earned her master's degree in the 1950's while teaching. Mary Lee was raised by her grandmother who also cared for her great aunt who was in her 90's.

Mary Lee graduated as valedictorian of the Golden High School class of 1949, also serving as Class President her senior year. That fall, she entered the freshman class at the University of Illinois recalling that she went to college to "have fun." She earned her degree in Home Economics Education in 1953. During her senior year at the U of I, she served as President of the Illinois Disciples Foundation Student Council. However, it was her sophomore year service on the Plowboy Prom Committee that would bring about the biggest changes. That is where she met the love of her life, Committee Chair, William (Bill) Dimond. He apparently already had a date to the Plowboy Prom, but later that year, he asked Mary Lee to accompany him to the Alpha Gamma Rho, Pink Rose Formal.

After graduation, she taught home economics for a year in Nauvoo, Illinois. In the meantime, Bill came home from the Korean war, called Mary Lee and asked if he might visit her in Golden. Her mother encouraged him with "burnt lima beans" (that he claimed were tasty?!), and the visits became more frequent. After a bit and not wanting "to have her time wasted," Mary Lee asked Bill what "were his intentions." He said they were "good." Soon after, Mary Lee and Bill were married on June 13, 1954 at the Methodist Church in Golden. After a honeymoon camping trip across the western states, they settled into a farmhouse near Bill's hometown of Lovington, Illinois.

Mary Lee used her strength and intelligence not to break glass ceilings, but to raise a family, to substitute teach when time allowed and to serve in church leadership roles. She was a first-rate farmer's wife, always keeping the cookie jar full and packing the kids in the car to take lunch to her husband out in the fields. When Bill left farming for the agri-business world, Mary Lee became an equally accomplished wife of a business executive. She maintained her teaching certificate while the family moved to different locations in Illinois, Iowa and, ultimately, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Mary Lee served as Board President and also as Director of Women's Ministry of Southwest Michigan for the Christian Church Disciples of Christ of Kalamazoo. After retirement, Mary Lee and Bill traveled much of the world in conjunction with Rotary International programs and worked on Rotary programs to bring safe drinking water to citizens of the Dominican Republic. She was a surrogate-mother/grandmother for three Japanese exchange students who attended Western Michigan University. In later years, Mary Lee volunteered on the First United Methodist Church Outreach Committee and was a substitute teacher at Spring Valley Elementary School in Kalamazoo.

She loved dogs (especially her treasured Irish Setter, Lady), bird-watching, baking, art, Chihuly glass, book clubs, "The Lawrence Welk Show," good friends and conversation. She taught her children to consult Emily Post, whether or not in doubt, and tried teaching them that "patience is a virtue," with varying degrees of success. Most of all, she loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Nearly all of them have fond memories of summers in South Haven at the beach, Kids Corner and Sherman's Ice Cream, and Mary Lee always wanted to know what new interests and adventures they were pursuing.

She is survived by her husband William Dimond, her four children, Ann Wiseman (whose husband Bryan passed last year), Susan (Alan) Tempin, Thomas (Joleen) Dimond, and Nancy (Phillip) Sawyer, seven grandchildren, and four great grandchildren (…and one on the way).

A memorial service will be announced at a later date to be held at the First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo. There will be no visitation. Private burial will take place on a later date at Maple Grove Cemetery, Farmer City, IL.

Memorials may be directed to the University of Illinois Foundation, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, for the Mary Lee (Hill) Dimond Scholarship Fund. Contributions may be made online at go.illinois.edu/MaryLeeDimond. Checks made payable to the University of Illinois Foundation and referencing the Mary Lee (Hill) Dimond Scholarship Fund may be sent to P.O. Box 734500, Chicago, IL 60673-4500. Arrangements were made by the Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Memorial Chapel, S. 9th Street, Kalamzaoo, MI. The family kindly requests that you not send plants or flowers.