Catherine “Diane” Dabbs

Catherine “Diane” Dabbs, 66, of Peru passed away early in the morning on December 30, 2022, after a tenacious battle with pancreatic cancer.

Diane was born on October 29, 1956, to James Clifford and Wanda Kay (Booe) Wells in Brazil. She attended Worthington-Jefferson High School, where she was a cheerleader and graduated in 1974. After graduation, she went on to study at Indiana State University.

In 1981, while working at ISU, she met the love of her life, Leo Francis Dabbs, and they wed later that year, going on to have two children, Zackery Herschel Dabbs and Ashley Dawn (Dabbs) Sutton. She was a loving and supportive mother.

During the time that Diane was raising her family, she worked as the secretary to the guidance and athletic department at Northwestern High School in Kokomo and later the secretary to the athletic department at Eastern High School in Greentown.

Diane was always passionate about crafting, creating, painting and making things beautiful, so she put her talents to work as a shop owner in Peru. She owned and operated The Farris Wheel Antiques and Collectibles from 2008 until the fall of 2022. When Diane wasn’t at the shop, she could be found at her happy place enjoying her time in her camper at Hidden Creek Campground.

Diane was a passionate and loving grandmother to her two granddaughters, Ayla Diane Sutton and Kora Jacquelyn Sutton. She always referred to them as “her girls” and loved them dearly.

Diane was preceded in death by her father, James Clifford Wells. She is survived by her mother, Wanda Kay (Booe) Wells; her husband, Leo Francis Dabbs; her children, Zackery Herschel Dabbs (Joshua Allen Prim) and Ashley Dawn (Scott) Sutton; her granddaughters, Ayla Diane Sutton and Kora Jacqueline Sutton; her siblings, Cynthia Denise (Dennis) Green and Jayme Lee (Michael) Arthur; and her many nieces and nephews, Dustin and Lindsay Green, Corey and Sara Green, Jessie and Eric Myers, Clayton and Nesrein Farris and Taylor and Benjamin McFarland.

Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, January 3, 2022 at Flowers-Leedy Funeral Home, 105 West Third Street in Peru. The funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. with Brother Alton Johns officiating. Burial will take place at Mount Hope Cemetery in Peru.

The family requests that all flowers and notes are sent to Flowers-Leedy Funeral Home in Peru and any donations in Diane’s name should be given to the Abundant Life Church (ALC) in Peru.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Flowers-Leedy Funeral Home. Friends and family may sign the online guestbook at www.FlowersLeedyAllen.com.