DIANA O’NIELL

04/13/1945 - 07/26/2022

Diana O’Niell, an exceptional woman who led an exemplary life, died July 26, 2022 at Houston Hospice. She was born on April 13, 1945 in Fort Worth, TX to Robert and Margaret Hewlett. Diana grew up in Houston, graduated from

Furr High School in 1962 and from University of Houston Magna Cum Laude in 1966. She later graduated from DePauw University with a master’s degree in English Literature and worked for several years as an English teacher. Her family roots were in rural Indiana, where her mother and father were raised. Some of her fondest childhood memories were summers spent with her extended family in Hymera, Indiana.

Diana was founder and sole owner of The Hadrian Corporation, a successful answering service that primarily served major clients in the Houston medical community. She generously shared company profits with her 35 employees and sold Hadrian to the employees in 2015. Throughout her business career, Diana’s business ethics and care for her clients and employees were a model of service, integrity, and compassion.

Diana married Charles

A. O’Niell, III on August 3, 1985 in Dalserf, Scotland, at Dalserf Parish Church, a church that her grandfather attended. The entire village attended the wedding and reception even though Charles and Diana were strangers from America. The story of their wedding and Diana’s Scottish roots were chronicled in a 2010 self-published book entitled, “Hands Across the Sea”. Diana wrote and edited chapters, many written by Scottish friends and experts on the region. The friendships that developed from the wedding were nurtured by many trips to Scotland, with one trip involving the gifting of 650 copies of her elaborately illustrated book to the people of Scotland. The gifting of the book was celebrated with three large parties in Scotland for Dalserf villagers, Scottish contributors, and friends from the US. The Duke of Hamilton attended the final party, which was a seated dinner at his 14th century castle, Hamilton Palace.

Diana was an avid collector of Scottish jewelry, various types of china and glassware, old maps, and countless other collectables, with many of these adorning the walls of her home in Houston.

Her love of beautiful things reflected her internal beauty. Other passions included a love of literature, the visual and performing arts and an interest in words and language. A favorite pastime was attending Broadway plays and musicals.

Diana was so pure of heart that she seemed like an angel visiting Earth. She was loving, generous, loyal, and treated everyone with kindness and respect. A hallmark of her personality was her compassion and consideration for others. She was elegant, humble and had a wonderful sense of style. Her keen sense of humor reflected her intelligence and love of mischief. Diana was also fun loving, adventuresome, and a marvelous life companion. She had countless friends, many of whom were there to comfort her in the final months of her life.

She is survived by her husband Charles, her sisters Linda Frost of Round Rock, Texas, and Karen Lee of Boerne, Texas; her nieces Erin Hobbs of Montgomery, Texas and Morgen Lee of San Antonio, Texas, her nephew Eric Frost of Austin, Texas; her cousins Tom Hewlett of Edwardsville, Illinois and Marjorie Turpen of Merom, Indiana; and Lois Thompson of Shelburn, Indiana, and adoring friends, far and wide. It is important to mention Tere Duarte who ran Diana’s home for 32 years and Deanna Heller who managed Diana’s personal affairs with loving care for the last 12 years.

Rather than having a memorial service, Diana would prefer that loved ones honor her by making a donation to the Houston Grand Opera or the Houston Ballet in her name.