Diane R. Stevens

CLERMONT FL - Diane Roy Stevens, age 81, of Clermont, FL, went to eternal rest on October 25, 2025, embraced in love by her family. Diane’s love and spirit will live on in all who knew her. Her family takes comfort in knowing she is now at peace and free from the challenges of Alzheimer’s.

Born in Barre, Vermont, on April 6, 1944, Diane was the youngest of fourteen (14) children of Oram Roy (Joseph Philibert) and Lydia Albina Roy (Laedia). Diane grew up in Barre, attended St. Monica's Elementary School and graduated from Marion High School in 1962. Soon after, she married John Seager Gordon and together they created Gordon Sandblast Company. Working side by side for years, as company management working the trade, Diane was notably the first female owner of a headstone engraving company in Vermont, a testament to her determination and independence as a female pioneer.

After the divorce, Diane pursued a variety of professions, most notably as the Assistant Manager of the A&P store in Barre. She once worked in a factory building mass transit trains in Barre, in an industry dominated by men, until the factory closed. Relying on her many years in the grocery industry, she went on the road as a very successful (award winning) Sales Representative for Food Enterprises, travelling all over New England meeting with independent store owners, representing companies such as Borden, Nestle, HJ Heinz, and Nabisco, to name a few.

As store manager for her son John’s first Quality Market in Barre VT Diane was an irreplaceable fixture and a world class employee, loved by staff and customers alike, an integral part of its success as a world class market.

In addition to Diane having an exceptional work history, she had extraordinary talent for anything she tried to do. She was not only a wonderful mother and homemaker, but she also had amazing insight and talent for home renovations. She bought several investment homes and properties in her lifetime which she worked endlessly to improve, creating rental income, as well as places for her son or granddaughter to live. These investments ultimately created successful savings later in her life.

Diane married Richard Leroy Stevens “Dick,” and they made a permanent move to Florida, where she was able to enjoy another of her hobbies, gardening, and all year long now. Dick unexpectedly passed on June 3, 2012. In 2018, she married Michael Elkins, a longtime Highgate (King’s Ridge) resident. She enjoyed attending dances at the clubhouse and was known for her warmth and humor that touched everyone she met.

Diane cherished her large family and was especially proud of her ten (10) brothers, (9) of which served our country, but it is her loving sister Anita Seguin of Burlington VT whose constant concern, daily communications and love for Diane was immeasurable.

Diane’s children, John/Kelly Gordon of Clermont FL & Brookfield VT, Grandmother to Danielle Morgan/Steve Healy and Alexis/Jason Bednarz. Loving great-grandmother to Chase, Ava, Lucas and Blakely. James Gordon and his partner Rosemary Christiansen reside in Northfield, VT. Jeffery Gordon resides in Norton, VT, and a step-son, Brian Stevens, reside in Penacook, NH.

Diane is predeceased in death by twelve (12) siblings; Dolore Oram Roy, Raymond Gabriel Roy, Victor Thomas Roy, Marielore (Mary) Foreman, Edward Henry Roy, Bernard Patrick Roy, Rolland Joseph Roy, Armand George Roy, Robert Arthur Roy, Donald Joseph Roy, Normand Lucien Roy, Margaret Elizabeth Carney. She leaves behind over sixty (60) adoring nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be held on December 6, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in the chapel of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Clermont, FL.

Diane will be laid to rest in the spring at Hope Cemetery in Barre, VT, appropriately called the "Granite Capital of the World," which serves not only as a place to remember but also as a tribute to the stone cutters and artisans interred amongst the sculptures they created while they lived.

Arrangements are in the care of Pruneau-Polli Funeral Home, 58 Summer Street in Barre, VT.

Those wishing to express online condolences may do so at www.pruneaupollifuneralhome.com