Dianne Ruth Pritchard

Dianne Ruth Pritchard, age 75, passed away peacefully on May 27, 2022. She is survived by her  daughter, Gina Johnson of Vermont; her son Dean Frattone of RI; her children's father, former husband, Richard Frattone of RI; two grandchildren, Dean Alexander Frattone and Darien Johnson; four siblings: David Pritchard of Jamestown, Daniel Pritchard of Vermont, Deborah  Britton of North Kingstown, and Dale Anne Caswell of Jamestown; and many friends-five who  were especially dear to her: Lindy Nettleton of Newport, Susan Emily Ganz of Georgia, Thomas  Becker of Nevada, and William Brennan and Carl Barchi-both of RI. She is the daughter of the  late (US Army Major) John Pritchard and Barbara (Taylor) Pritchard. For the past several years,  Dianne lived at Harbor House in the "Point" section of Newport, RI; and her final poem, written in March 2022 and entitled "Star of the Sea," described how much she loved the 100-year-old, former Cenacle Chapel there. She leaves behind a legacy of artwork including poems, character  sketches, drawings, paintings, collages, greeting cards and tapestries. Dianne loved to sing, dance  and play-act whenever possible; and she kept a meditation practice for over fifty years. 

A private internment service will be held at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Jamestown, RI. The church houses memorials to both Dianne's maternal grandmother, the late Alice (Thompson)  Champlin, and her mother, the late Barbara May (Taylor) Pritchard. 

One of Dianne's final wishes was that friends remember her by taking solitary, reflective walks at  Wetherill State Park in Jamestown-her favorite local place "to keep grounded and connect to  that other world."

Star of the Sea  
by Dianne Pritchard, March 2022 
Near sunset, vespers, 
I sometimes take time 
out of time 
to walk the long hallway 
toward chapel 
That wide floor 
lined with arched windows Into the old church 
The dark entrance 
where aged wood and tiles remind me, 
I live among small majesties 
Across the courtyard 
'They' serve us still 
in the empty church,  
rarely used, 
Soul wanderings 
after chores, errands 
to the shift back to 'alone' as if through the Wardrobe Closet 
Back to a world of NOW as eternity there resides With trappings that inspire awe Time less ness 
among tall columns of light Afternoon, through stained glass 
Our eternal lord(s) 
and ladies were designed in them red, blue, gold 
jeweled by sunlight 
moonlight, as we sleep 
Symbols for the ever-seeking Still here, on 'The Point' 
from this Order of Cenacle Kept alive 
for those who might remember. 
Nothing Nothing 
is worth the forgetting
The universal vespers 
at the end of day... 
The Creator vibrating Stillness always reigning ever and ever 
within and without

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