Diane Elizabeth Puliafico - Online Memorial Website

This memorial website was created to remember our dearest Diane Elizabeth Puliafico who was born in Brockton Massachusetts on March 28, 1959 and passed away on February 17, 2008. You will live forever in our memories and hearts.

DONATIONS: TBD

Diane's Family will be deciding on a Children's Charity for donations in lieu of flowers. Website will be updated as soon as Charity is set-up for Diane.

Funeral Arrangements for Diane Puliafico:

You can view Diane's obituary and sign Diane's Guestbook at the following link. Full Obituary has been copied at the end of this main page.

http://legacy.com/SignOnSanDiego/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=103927136

VIEWING:                                           FUNERAL MASS- Service
 Friday  Febraury 22,  2008               Saturday February 23, 2008
 Featheringill Mortuary                      Saint Didacus Church
 6322 El Cajon Blvd.                              4772 Felton Street
 San Diego, CA 92115                           San Diego, CA 92116
 Hours: 4:00 PM-8:00 PM                      Hours: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

 CELEBRATION OF DIANE'S LIFE: Please join us after the memorial service on Saturday at the home of Amy, Reece, Makayla, Haley and Erik for a celebration of Diane's life.

A Tribute of Love and Friendship to Diane

By Amy Farbstein

Today the world has experienced a tragic loss. The passing of Diane Puliafico, will never be forgotten. Diane was my very best friend and the very best friend a person could ever have. She was a beautiful, smart, free spirited, honest, loving, giving, caring, thoughtful, humorous, witty, humble, sensitive, strong willed courageous young woman who has been taken from this earth way too early. I loved Diane so very much. She would have done anything for me as I would have for her. She ALWAYS let me know how much she loved me and greeted me with big hugs and kisses hello and good bye. She was an open minded evolved emotional thinker. She shared all of her emotions openly without hesitation. She shared all of her thoughts and emotions everyday with me. My day was not complete without a minimum of 5 calls to her. She was such a big and important part of my life. I will miss her so very much. Words cannot describe my love for Diane. I want to invite everyone to share their feelings and participate in sharing what they loved about Diane as well. 

The Events of the Past Few Days of Diane Puliafico’s Life as the Events Unfolded: 

By Amy Farbstein

Friday morning, February 15^th:

I spoke with Diane on the phone and she was telling me how she was missing Makayla (my four year old daughter) and wanted to see her. I had told her that Makayla was not in school that day because it was a holiday and she could come up and spend some time with us. She said she had a few more hours of work to do but when she was finished, she would head up to spend the rest of the day and evening with us. She then called me a few hours later and said that she thought she was coming down with a cold or something and although she really wanted to see Makayla, she did not want to expose her to any illness. We spoke that evening and she seemed to have a cold. We spoke at length as we always did. Before we hung up the phone, she said to me, ”Amy, I know you know how much I love you, but I was thinking of you last night and I want you to know that you are the most important person in my life. You have impacted my life and helped me transform myself more then any person I know. I was thinking that I would have never bought this house if it were not for you, I would never had done Landmark Education if it were not for you and it totally changed my life. I would have never flown on a private plane, I would have never gone to The French Open in France, I would have never had my job with Nextel and I would have never had Makayla in my life. You totally changed my life Amy and I want to thank you for that.” I said, “Thank you Diane and I want you to know that I have many best friends but you are the best friend I have ever had. Our friendship is unique, like soul mates. And I love you too Diane.” She thanked me and told me that she knew how I felt about her. That was one of the beautiful things about Diane, she always let you know how she felt about you. She lived life to the fullest.

Saturday,  February 16^th

I spoke with Diane on Saturday and she said she was feeling worse and that she thought she had the flu. She said her body parts were all aching. Lena, one of her best friends, also spoke with her during the day and Diane said that she was going to try to be able to make it to Lena’s birthday party on Sunday evening. She really wanted to make the party because she loved celebrating birthdays with her good friends. Her friends were the most important people in her life and she would never miss a party. I spoke with her later that evening (about 7:30) and she told me that every muscle in her body was sore and she had taken a shower and she felt like she was going to pass out. She said that she had never felt that sick in her life. I had a bout of the flu in November and I could completely relate to what she was feeling. I told her that she needed to get the RX for Tamaflu because if taken within the first 24 hours of the flu, it is supposed to cut the sickness time down and the symptoms down by 50%. I had a doctor call in a RX of Tamaflu for her at her local pharmacy. I called Diane and let her know that an RX was being called in for her and to have her sister pick it up for her. Carolyn, her sister, picked up the medication for Diane and dropped it off at her house about 8:23 pm. through the mail slot because Diane did not want to get her exposed to whatever she had. Diane called me at 8:30 and let me know that she had taken the medication and that she was not feeling well so she did not think she could make Lena’s party on Sunday night. During each one of our conversations she coughed the entire time it was a dry cough like a tickle in her throat but she kept talking right through the cough. I said good night to her and told her to call me when she wakes up. She then phoned Rod, a gentleman that she had recently met and was very excited about, and left him a message. At 9:37 pm she phoned Lena because she wanted to apologize to her because she was not going to feel well enough to make it to her party the next evening. She then told Lena that she had to hang up the phone because she thought she had to throw up. Lena also noticed that she was coughing the entire time. That is the last time anyone spoke with Diane.

Sunday, February 17^th

I woke up early the next day, Feb. 17^th but did not want to call Diane too early as I knew she would be sleeping. I called her at 8:32 am and left her a message that I was checking up on her and to call me when she woke up. Her phone record shows that a few minutes after my call, she retrieved my message and listened to it. We figure that the phone woke her up and she got out of bed to see who called. She sat down on the love seat in her family room and called her voice mail at 8:44 am. She laid down as she listened, hung up the phone, put it on her belly, folded her hands across her stomach and closed her eyes. It is my belief that this is when she passed away. She was not laying down to take a nap on the small sofa, because she needed her leg room and she did not cover herself with a blanket as she would have also done if she were going to nap. Somewhere during that time, she had turned the TV on as well. The next call she received on her cell phone was at 9:44am. It was from Rod, someone special to her that she was dating, calling to see how she was feeling. I called her home phone several times because I thought that if she was sleeping, she would hear her machine go off and hear my voice. I called Diane on her cell phone again at 10:27 leaving her a message that I was worried and that I would call her when I finished working out. I called her again at 11:04 and again at 11:17. Lena then tried to reach her on her cell at 11:54 and left her a message wondering how she was feeling. I called her again at 12:14 and still no answer. At this point in time I became worried and searched for Carolyn’s number which Diane had given me the night before. I could not find it. I had scribbled on a piece of paper and could not find it. Rod called her again and left a message at 12:15 again, wondering how she was feeling. I called her again at 12:40 and left her another message. I finally found Carolyn’s number and called her. I told her that I was worried about Diane because she had not returned any of my calls. I thought she was most likely sleeping but I wanted Carolyn to go by her house and check up on her. Carolyn arrived at Diane’s house about 1:00pm. She tried to look in the windows and the mail slot but could not tell if Diane was on the sofa. She banged on the windows and called for her through the mail slot. I continued to call Diane at 1:08 and 1:15 and again at 1:28. I realized that I had a set of keys to Diane’s house, so I met Carolyn in UTC, dropped off what I thought was her house keys and car keys and went back home because I needed to be home to watch Makayla. Carolyn called me as soon as she returned to Diane’s house and unfortunately, the keys did not work. We both agreed that we needed to call Jim, one of Diane’s best friends to help break into her home. I did not have his number but Carolyn found it and called him. She explained to him that we needed him to break into Diane’s house to make sure she was okay. All this time, we thought she must have been sleeping but as the time passed, I was feeling a sense of strange urgency. Jim arrived at 3pm and took one of her windows out in a matter of minutes, slide in the window, and saw Diane laying peacefully on the small love seat. He instantly knew she was not alive. He said “Carolyn, this is not good.” Carolyn followed him in the window and saw Diane laying there peacefully with her cell phone on her stomach and her hands interlocked across her chest. I was on the phone the entire time and heard the screams of Carolyn. I started screaming and my husband called 911. Lena, came to my house and drove us to Diane’s house. We were filled with emotion and confusion and denial. How could this be, it isn’t so? Why would this happen? We arrived at Diane’s house and Carolyn, Jim, and Deb were there with the medical examiner, the police and a grievance counselor. It was not determined as to how she died but they pronounced her dead at their arrival. Diane is currently at the medical examiners waiting for an autopsy. 

After 2 long months of medical examiners picking apart every organ and tissue that they could, they were going to draw the conclusion that the cause of death was UNKNOWN.  How could this be?  Something went so terribly wrong that she died and there was no cause of death to be determined.  Because of the nature of Diane being such a young, healthy woman, the medical examiners decided to bring this case to a board of directors to try to go over every stitch of her body.  Upon further examination, it was determined that Diane's adrenal glands looked thin and worn out.  They took them out and looked under a microscope and saw that her adrenal glands were in fact "wasted".  This lead then to the belief that she died of an adrenal crisis or Addison's disease.  To have more clarity on this, they needed to do a blood test to see if in fact Diane had run out of cortisol, which is essential for life.  Unfortunately, they had run out of blood and the test never confirmed that she did go into an adrenal crisis.  It has never been noted that anyone has ever died of an adrenal crisis without prior warning such as weeks or even months of lethargy to a point of not being able to get out of a bed.  However,  the medical examiners decided that the best diagnosis of Diane's passing was Autoimmune Deficiency Polyglandular Syndrome II (which is Addison's Disease coupled with a thyroid disorder. 

All I know is that Diane was loved by everyone who knew her. She touched every ones lives in a very profound way. There is no one else in the world like her. She left footprints on the hearts of those who knew her and because of this, our lives will never be the same.

My deepest heartfelt sorrow goes out to her entire family, all of her friends, all of her coworkers and anyone’s life she touched. What an amazing woman she was!!

Diane Elizabeth Puliafico
PULIAFICO, DIANE ELIZABETH  Diane Elizabeth Puliafico passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, February 17, 2008, at her home in San Diego. Diane was fun loving and lived life to the fullest. Her infectious smile and personality were qualities that endeared her to all who knew her. The world was a better place for having her in it. Diane was born on March 28, 1959, in Brockton, MA, where she lived with her mother and four brothers and sisters until she relocated to her beloved San Diego in 1984. Ms. Puliafico was a highly successful, award winning account executive for Sprint/ Nextel. Diane was a graduate of Brockton Public schools and received her degree from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA in 1981. Diane is survived by her mother Dorothy of Brockton, MA; her father Charles of Tucson, AZ; her sister Donna of Willis, TX; her brother Stephen and his wife Jane (Mancini) and their children Christopher and Lauren of Sharon, MA; her brother Brian and his wife Debbie (Katz) and their children Kelsey and Andrea Lei of Cary, N.C. and her sister Carolyn of San Diego, CA, as well as her aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends across the country. Services for Ms. Puliafico will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 22, 2008, at Featheringill Mortuary, 6322 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA 92115, with a Funeral Mass to be held at St. Didacus Catholic Church, 4772 Felton St., San Diego, CA 92116, on Saturday, February 23, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Diane's Life immediately following her funeral at the home of her dearest friend Amy (Farbstein) Jensen Carlsbad, CA 92009. Please sign the guest book at obituaries.uniontrib.com