Diane Topping passed away peacefully on New Year's Eve, 2011. Born in Seattle, WA on March 9, 1947, Diane had been a resident of Tucson for the last 11 years. She is survived by her husband, Jim and three children, Brian, Beth and Kevand; her grandchild, Aimee Ann Topping Cusimano; parents, Richard and Virginia Johnson; siblings, Silvermoon Johnson, Doug Johnson, Vicky Graybill, Bayard Johnson, Alicia Schmidt and many nieces and nephews she adored. A lifelong athlete, she was an accomplished swimmer and runner, finishing the NYC Marathon in 1978. She regularly hiked her beloved Rincon Mountains, climbing all day until the sun set. She was crowned Miss Seattle in 1968 and competed for Miss Washington. She graduated from the University of Washington in 1969 and earned her Master's degree in clinical social work at the University of Connecticut in 1979. She completed all her course work in the PhD program at the ASU School of Social Work, and was finishing her dissertation when it was interrupted by illness. For the last three years, Diane worked in the Polytrauma unit at the Tucson VA Medical Center, helping veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and returned with very severe injuries. She proudly maintained this work through her final days, despite the rigorous challenge of aggressive chemotherapy treatments. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tucson/obituary.aspx?pid=155348914#sthash.GOWztykG.dpuf