Dorothy Diane LaPenna of Nashville, Tennessee

June 11, 1947 - June 29, 2021

Dorothy Diane LaPenna, 74, passed away peacefully on June 29th, 2021, in Nashville, Tennessee.

A resident of Dickson, Tennessee, Diane was born in Nashville in June 1947 to Betty Mary (Matthews) LaPenna and James John LaPenna.

Diane attended Nashville’s Peabody Demonstration School, graduating in 1965. She went on to attend Queens College in North Carolina, and in the late sixties joined Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), which sent her to San Francisco as a teacher for young children. She also attended San Francisco State University, where she studied art. During her time in California, she also studied astrology with Robert Cole and began offering readings. In 1970, she married Albert Guarino (Watsonville, California), who remained a friend.

After graduating from Kripalu Center in Massachusetts, Diane was recognized as one of Nashville’s first professional massage therapists, starting her practice in 1983. In 1996, she launched a new career as a professional organizer and feng shui practioner, which she did for many years.

Diane was known for her warmth, compassion and sensitivity as well as her lively wit and good humor. When guiding organizing clients, she would ask the now-familiar question when deciding what to keep and what to discard — “Do you love this item?” She added, “OK, so you don’t love your mop or your dust pan, but life is better if they stay.”

She loved nature and gardening, and studied herbalism with Rosemary Gladstar.

In 2008, Diane moved to Dickson to enjoy the peace of country living surrounded by flowers and wildlife. Soon after, she planted a field with a thousand daffodils.

The family is grateful for the loving care and dedication of her local caregivers and helpers, as well as her dear friend and supportive guide, Lorraie Marks of Virginia.

Both her parents proceeded her in death, as did her sister, Pamela Jean LaPenna, who passed in 1999.

She is survived by sisters, Mary Beth LaPenna of Nashville, Tennessee and Ellen Ann LaPenna of Naalehu, Hawaii along with several cousins who reside in Tennessee and Alabama.

She will be laid to rest at Larkspur Conservation in Westmoreland, Tennessee, surrounded by the flowers, birds and other wildlife she loved.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Humane Society of Dickson County, Tennessee