Remembering Diane Passno, Focus on the Family’s Pioneering Feminist

If you or your family have ever benefited from or been blessed by the ministry of Focus on the Family, then you’ve enjoyed the fruit of the labor of Diane Passno.

Diane, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 79 of an aggressive brain tumor, was a key member of the Focus team for over 27 years. She held the distinction of being the ministry’s first female vice president and served as a trusted aide to both founder Dr. James Dobson and current president Jim Daly.

A graduate of UCLA, Diane previously worked for children’s services for the Los Angeles Department of Public Social Services.

Joining the ministry in 1982, Diane oversaw the creation and expansion of Focus’ correspondence department, a critical area that served as the heartbeat of the organization. Listeners and readers would reach out to the ministry by the hundreds of thousands each month. Many of them were carrying burdens and concerns and were eager for advice. Diane and her team metaphorically met them wherever they were.

Jim Ware, who has been with Focus since 1986 and was hired by Diane, remembers her as far more than a boss. Reflecting on her passing this week, Jim said she was a friend, an encourager, even a second mom to many.

“It was a great experience to work in Correspondence under Diane’s leadership,” Jim shared. “She was fun-loving and fun to be around and always endlessly affirming and uplifting to the people who served under her.”

He continued:

“Most of us were young – twenties and early thirties – and things were always interesting, wild, and crazy out on the ‘floor’ (as Diane called it).  In between answering letters (and there was always a huge backlog of unanswered mail) we shot rubber bands, ate popcorn, wrote stories on routing sheets, had parties of all kinds, and played lots of music together, both for department devotions and at other times.  Diane enabled and encouraged all this because she knew that happy workers are also effective workers.”

Melody Rodriguez, another longtime Focus associate who also served as Diane’s executive assistant for a season, remembered her as someone who loved to laugh and loved to make people feel special.

“She was great at boosting people up,” said Melody. She was also extremely smart, had great instincts. She was a wordsmith. She was wise.”

As part of her various responsibilities, Diane was entrusted with helping the ministry “stay on the rails” theologically and ideologically. To make this happen, she read hundreds of manuscripts and books from prospective authors and radio guests every year, listened to tapes of possible speakers, reviewed scripts, and maintained a wide and warm network of ministry friends all over the world.

A woman of boundless energy, few people knew that Diane navigated all of this despite a series of personal health challenges, including a heart condition that was first diagnosed as a teenager. She suffered and recovered from a heart attack in 2006. The deteriorating ailment eventually impaired her hearing. She received a cochlear implant shortly after retiring in December of 2009.

Despite these disabilities, Diane poured herself into the work at hand. She saw her responsibilities as a calling and not just a career.

A gifted author and speaker in her own right, Diane wrote “Feminism: Mystique or Mistake?” and co-authored, ADHD Doesn’t Mean Disaster with Dr. Dennis Swanberg and Dr. Walt Larimore.

Happily married to Paul, who was a high school football coach, the Passnos raised two daughters, Nicole and Danielle.

A diehard sports, but especially a Yankees fan, Diane first worshipped Jesus, but then also adored Derek Jeter, the Hall of Fame shortstop and team captain. When famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden visited the campus for a broadcast, Diane made sure she sat next to him during lunch.

Joel Vaughan, Focus on the Family’s chief of staff, said, “If you ever met Diane Passno, you never forgot that meeting.”

Focus on the Family was founded by Dr. James Dobson, a ministry that’s been an outgrowth of his remarkable life mission. Yet it’s never been a singularly focused organization. He had the foresight to hire Diane, an addition that wound up positively shaping the ministry in ways big and small for decades.

Over ten-thousand people have worked at Focus over the years, gifted saints who God placed for seasons of varying length and various purpose. Diane was and is a beloved member of that long legacy. We already miss her. But she now sees in full what she advocated so earnestly and passionately for – and sees face-to-face with her Savior whom she so honorably served all her life.

We extend our deepest sympathizes to Paul, Nicole, Danielle, and the entire Passno family, and give thanks to the Lord for the wonderful and significant life of Diane Passno.

Image credit: Passno Family