The Reverend Esther Diane Smith passed away peacefully at her home in Fullerton, CA, on April 4, 2024, from natural causes. Mother Diane is survived by her sister Sharon, her brother Richard and wife Mary, and their two grown children Sarah and AJ.

Born on December 22, 1945, and raised in Fullerton, she graduated from California State University, Fullerton, and earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy at Claremont Graduate University. She taught at CSUF, Modesto Junior College, and Diablo Valley College and later became a dean. At CDSP, the Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, she completed Master of Divinity and was ordained a priest at Saint Matthew Ecumenical Catholic Church in Orange, California, in 2016.

A viewing will be held Friday, May 10, 2024, at 5 pm, with Rosary at 7:30 pm at McAulay & Wallace Mortuary, Fullerton. Funeral Service. A reception will be on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 2 pm at Saint Matthew Ecumenical Catholic Church, 1111 W. Town and Country Road, Orange, CA 92868. Graveside ceremony will take place Monday, May 13, 2024, at 11 am at Memory Garden Memorial Park, Brea, CA.