Diane Barta Carstens, 78, of Richland, WA passed away with her family by her side on July 28, 2023.  She was born to the late Frank and Virginia Barta on November 19, 1943 in Spokane, WA.  She grew up in Washington, graduating from Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with honors from Central Washington University in 1981.  Diane married Richard Carstens in 1966 in Reno, Nevada and the couple moved to the Tri-Cities in 1968 where they established careers and raised two daughters, Andrea Yamamoto of Richland and Jennifer Hoffman of Seattle. She was an avid runner into her 70’s. At the age of 56 she completed the 1990 Goodwill Games Women’s Marathon in Seattle, two Hood To Coast Relay Races, numerous Bloomsday Road Races and many Tri-City area running events.  A true Pacific Northwesterner, she grew up hiking, camping and backpacking in state and national wilderness parks and continued this passion with her husband and children. She backpacked extensively, throughout the North Cascades, the Olympics, and The Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon; completing the Mt Rainier Wonderland Trail from Sunrise to Longmire in 1989.  Diane’s love of the wilderness extended into winter with downhill skiing. Skiing took her to slopes in Washington, Oregon and Utah but her all-time favorite ski run was Old Skyliner at Mt. Bachelor.  Her banking career spanned 25 years at Banner Bank, starting as a teller, she advanced to residential and commercial loans.  Diane took enormous professional and personal pride in assisting and supporting all her customers throughout her long and dedicated career until her retirement. 

She applied this same dedication and care for others towards her family.  She lovingly cared for her parents that lived into their 90’s, her two aunts that lived into their 100’s and Richard’s distant cousin that lived into her 80’s.  Diane possessed a talented attention to detail and style that could be seen in how she dressed, designed her home and decorated Christmas cookies! She loved reading, classical music, organizing her annual garage sale, jam made from wild berries, and picking the wildflowers of Mt. Rainier. Diane is survived by her husband Richard Carstens, their two daughters, her brother David Barta of Tacoma, sister Carol Koman of Maryland and 3 grandchildren. 

A celebration of life is planned for Diane in the spring of 2024.