Long-Time Reston Resident Diane Lee Peabody Clifford Dies

This obituary of Diane Lee Peabody Clifford, who lived in Reston from 1978 to 2021, was submitted by Dorothy Clifford Birch.

ASHBURN, VA — We are heartbroken to announce the passing of Diane Lee Peabody Clifford of Ashburn, Virginia on Nov. 17, 2022.

Our mom, Diane, was one of the smartest and kindest women to ever walk this earth and we were lucky to have her as the heart of the family.

Diane was a child of Pigeon Cove in Rockport, Massachusetts, and whip-smart from the start. She was a star student in her hometown and went on to graduate from Marietta College in Ohio in 1966 with a degree in radio and television broadcasting. After graduating, she went on to work in television in Boston while being courted by her future husband, John Scott Clifford Jr.

Scott and Diane met at the radio station in Marietta, married in December 1968, and tackled life together for 54 years, including raising three children. Diane devoted herself to being an excellent mother and wife, loving her family with all her heart and creating a warm and beautiful home that was always the "safe port in the storm" for her children. She had so much love and care to give, in fact, that she was the wise advisor and trusted counsel of friends around the country and all over the world. We will never be able to fill the void she's left in passing, but she was so good at loving us, both up close and from afar, that it still feels like somehow she is with us, and always will be.

Diane was predeceased by her mother and father, Harold and Dorothy (Fears) Peabody and her granddaughter Kylie Xiu Clifford. She is survived by her husband Scott, her sister Joyce Peabody, her daughters Victoria Pierce (Geoffrey) and Dorothy Birch (Brian), and her son John S. Clifford III (Kathy) as well as her grandchildren Geoffrey Pierce, Jr., Alexander Pierce, Kenzie Clifford and Abigail Birch.

She cared for and donated to many causes, particularly those that cared for children (Feed the Children) and nature; please consider a donation in her memory to a cause of your choice. (Mom was the kind of person who wanted you to be you and to do what makes you happy.)

A celebration of life will be held around Diane's birthday in March of 2023. Details will be available closer to that time from family members and on her memorialized Facebook page