Diana Dean Griffith

Diana (Diane) Dean Griffith passed away peacefully in her home July 30, 2026, at age 75. She was born in Mesa, Arizona, on April 19, 1951, to Daniel Dean Griffith and Dorothy Jean Cantrell Griffith. She attended Chandler public schools and graduated in 1969 from Chandler High School (CHS), the same school that her father had attended. Diane enjoyed horses and participated in barrel racing as a teenager.

Diane studied Education at Northern Arizona University (NAU), earning her B.A. in 1973. She taught English at Chandler High for 8 years and then took a break to earn her M.A. in Recreation at the University of Northern Colorado, in Greeley. She worked briefly for the City of Greeley Recreation Department before choosing to return to CHS and continue teaching English. She was devoted to her students and involved in many activities, including acting as the advisor for the yearbook staff, the school newspaper, and the CHS National Honor Society. She also organized several blood drives.

Diane married KJ Heatherington in 1990 and they made their home in South Phoenix. She retired in 2012, after teaching a total of 38 years at Chandler High School and then spent an additional year teaching tenth grade English at Poston Butte High School, in San Tan Valley, Arizona.

Diane and KJ were quite involved in the Boy Scout program when their son was enrolled, including acting as Cub Masters and accompanying the Scouts on humanitarian trips to Mexico. Diane was a devoted daughter and was of great assistance to her mother, especially as her mother aged.

She is survived by her spouse of over 36 years, KJ Heatherington, her son, Kevin Heatherington, as well as two sisters, Jayne (Parris) Urbina and Debra (Earle) Wells, and 10 nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be at Whitney & Murphy Bueler Mortuary, Saturday, August 8, 2026, 14 West Hulet Drive, Chandler, Arizona, beginning at 9 AM, and services beginning at 10 AM. Interment will follow at 11:30 AM at Valley of the Sun Cemetery, 10940 East Chandler Heights Road, Chandler, Arizona.