Diana K. Mikkelsen

Diana (Henley) Mikkelsen was born October 22, 1949, in Bluffton, Indiana, the middle daughter of Bill and Madeline Henley. She and her family lived in various locations in Indiana and Illinois in her younger years, and Diana graduated from Taylorville High School in 1967. She was a cosmetology graduate and subsequently graduated from Patricia Stevens Career College in Milwaukee, WI, focusing on art, interior design, and modeling.

Upon graduation, Diana moved to Santa Barbara, California, beginning to pursue her desire to travel and see the world. She married her first husband a few years later, and they had one daughter, Chanda, born in 1972. Diana divorced and went back to college, attending the mechanical drafting and design program at Santa Barbara City College. She married Jim Mikkelsen in 1987. She pursued a career in her field, working for AEC-ABLE Engineering during the period the company was contracted to design the arms of the United States Space Station. Diana was honored to participate in this project and was proud to say that her parents’ names were engraved on a structure that traveled into space.

Diana and Jim retired in 2006 and moved to Colorada Springs, Colorado, where Diana pursued Japanese gardening and was a leader of the city’s Newcomers’ Club, where she focused on Ladies’ Gourmet committee and volunteerism at the Ronald McDonald House. She was known there for her eye for fashion and love of entertaining. She and Jim continued their travels, and Diana had friends and her sister Nancy join her in France, London, and the Tuscany region of Italy.

Diana dreamed of using her talents to design and build a modern home, and she and Jim chose to make a move to Ladysmith, Wisconsin, to do just that, buying property a couple of blocks from her sister. Diana designed the home entirely remotely and chose all interior and exterior components, using her talent for color and design to its limit. The Mikkelsens were able to move into Diana’s design in the summer of 2025. She became acutely ill and was never able to recover, with the effects of the illness progressing into chronic and debilitating health conditions. Diana passed on March 9, 2026, having told her sister a few days before that she was following God’s instructions to hold onto His heart and not let go when He came for her. Diana’s passing was with full acceptance, comfort, and grace.

Diana leaves behind her loving husband Jim of Ladysmith and her daughter Chanda (Wes) Hagen of Santa Maria, California, younger sister Nancy (Steve) Anderson, also of Ladysmith, nephew Ben (Niccole) Anderson of Lake Stevens, Washington, and their young daughters Emerie and Madelynn Anderson. Diana also enjoyed the dedicated friendship of Janet Gerhardt of Neillsville, Wisconsin, whom Diana referred to as her “honorary sister.”

Diana’s family expresses gratitude towards those who cared for her during her illness – Dr. Samantha Runstrom, Claire, Nikki, and support staff at Oakleaf Clinic, Oakbrook Health and Rehabilitation in Thorp, St. Croix Hospice, and Nash-Jackan Funeral Home for their compassion.

A complete obituary will also be published in the Ladysmith News.