Diane Marie Hoel, born August 12, 1948, to Richard and Dolores Gibson, passed away on May 22, 2025.

Horses were a part of her soul, beginning at an early age at her Grandpa Bert's farm with her favorite pony Topsy. Throughout her life, Diane had more than 18 horses, with Taffy and Zarria being her favorites. She dedicated herself to training horses and spent countless hours riding trails across Wisconsin. Diane also spent months conditioning her horses to ride the trails in the Montana mountains. She said that never had she trusted her horses more than when riding the narrow mountain trails and looking down past her stirrup seeing nothing but air and sheer cliffs below. The best example of how much horses meant to her is what she did about her wedding dress. In her early twenties, she chose to use the money she had saved for a wedding dress to buy a horse and used a friend's dress for her special day. And there was more than just horses too: chickens, pigs, cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, emus, sheep, and goats were also a part of her life on the hobby farm.

Diane had a love for slapstick comedies, including prime-time sitcoms and classics featuring Tim Conway, Jerry Lewis, Don Knotts, and Carol Burnette. She laughed loudly at the silliest of movies, such as the Ernest movies (having seen all of them), Home Alone, Apple Dumpling Gang, Police Academy, Naked Gun, and Dennis the Menace—movies that others might chuckle at but secretly consider beneath them. And perhaps her favorite movie of all was the How the Grinch Stole Christmas which doesn’t come as a surprise to those who knew her because she was bonkers about Christmas. Every year she pulled out boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations until her house bulged at the seams with festivity and on the big day wore every kind of Christmas themed socks, pants, shirt, jewelry, crazy headwear and even glasses imaginable.

She never shied away from hard work, rolling up her sleeves to dig fence posts, trim horses' hooves, build decks, plant gardens and the list goes on and on with the work of maintaining a hobby farm. If she could do it herself, she did and if she didn’t know how she would learn. When presented with challenges, Diane dug in and faced them head-on, working four odd jobs at once to pay bills, taking care of her sister Patty’s health and financial needs, and ultimately fighting cancer. She was also the first person to step up and help others get through tough timesby lending advice or a helping hand. Diane was a caring, supportive, and compassionate wife; a silly, resourceful, and reliable sister; a genuine, loyal, dependable, and fun-loving friend; a brave, hardworking, encouraging, and loving mother; and a fun, understanding, adventurous, and patient grandma. Diane was more than words on a page; she was everything.

She leaves behind hundreds of family and friends whose lives have been touched by her.

She is survived by her husband Louie Hoel; her children Ed (Christine) Hagmann, Michelle Hagmann (Tina Kunshier), Pat (Kristin) Hoel, Kim (Andy) Fredlund, Pam (Wade) Newell, Eric (Stacy) Hoel; her grandchildren Marie, Grace, Allie, Jake, Sarah, Maggie, Tarrah, Lydia, and Erik.

A celebration of life party will be held at 12:00 PM on July 12th at her home at S1095 S 140th Ave, Fall Creek WI. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please donate to the "American Wild Horse Conservation" at www.americanwildhorse.org

Last Update: Jun 02, 2025 9:25 am CDT