Diane Edith Burbank of Helena, Montana, passed away on March 3, 2026, at the age of 75. Diane was born on October 25, 1950, in Conrad, Montana, to Vernon and Lois Carlson. She spent her childhood in the Conrad and Shelby areas and graduated from Shelby High School in 1969.<\/p>\n
After high school, Diane completed a secretarial course at Great Falls Commercial College and later attended the University of Montana in Missoula, where she met her husband, John. The two were married in 1971,welcomed five children, and shared 44 years together.<\/p>\n
Diane began both her family life and her 30-year career with the Montana Department of Transportation in Great Falls\/Black Eagle. Her work with MDT later took the family to Kalispell and eventually to Helena, where she retired in 2012.<\/p>\n
An avid reader, Diane had a deep love of books. She spent many hours sharing that passion with her children and grandchildren, often visiting the Lewis & Clark Public Library before building an extensive collection of her own. When she wasn\u2019t reading, she enjoyed watching Masterpiece Theatre<\/em> on PBS and rarely missed an opportunity to cheer on her favorite teams, the Boston Celtics and the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n Diane\u2019s grandchildren had her whole heart, and time spent with them brought her immense joy.<\/p>\n She was preceded in death by her husband, John; her sons, Joshua and Daniel Burbank; her parents, Lois and Vernon Carlson; and her brother-in-law, Cullen Meyer.<\/p>\n Diane is survived by her daughters, Amanda (Aeron) Walton and their daughters, Elise and Cara; Jessica Burbank; and Sarah (Justin) Steinmetz and their children, Danielle, Eisley, and Holden; as well as her brother, Lyn (Linda) Carlson; and her sisters, Lorna Meyer and Susan (Roland) Sweatman.<\/p>\n Diane was a devoted and loving woman who sacrificed greatly for her family and unwaveringly supported her children. Kind, accepting, and generous, she was known for her sharp wit and quiet sense of humor. Her strength, love, and steady presence will be deeply missed and forever remembered by all who knew and loved her.<\/p>\n A celebration of life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, at Anderson Stevenson Wilke & Retz Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Lewis & Clark Public Library or Montana PBS.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Diane-Burbank.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Celebration of Her Life","event_date1":"2026-04-25","start_time1":"11:00am","end_time1":"","location1":"Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home","address1":"3750 N Montana Ave.","city1":"Helena","state1":"Montana","zipcode1":"59602","event_title2":"Reception","event_date2":"2026-04-25","start_time2":"Following the service","end_time2":"","location2":"Social Hall of Anderson Stevenson Wilke","address2":"3750 N Montana Ave.","city2":"Helena","state2":"Montana","zipcode2":"59602","event_title3":"","event_date3":"","start_time3":"","end_time3":"","location3":"","address3":"","city3":"","state3":"","zipcode3":"","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}