STEEL, Diana Mary (née. Donahoe) Born on December 18, 1961 and passed away on March 23, 2023. Diana was born and raised in Winchester Massachusetts to Jerry and Virginia Donahoe, graduating from Winchester High School, and pursuing an undergraduate degree in biology at Amherst College. Her fascination for cell biology and immunology took her first to Biogen in Cambridge MA, then reading for a D.Phil at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford University pursuing research on antisense RNA.
While at Oxford, Diana was an active member of the Lincoln College community, joining choir and the Boat Club, and it was at Oxford that she met her first husband, Simon Steel. Her research took her to Children's Hospital, Boston and then to Trinity College Dublin. During her five years at Trinity, Diana's two children, Conor Alexander Steel, and Aisling Victoria Steel were born. Diana continued her love of music while in Ireland, joining the Trinity College choir, and participating in the 400th birthday of Trinity College, performing Mahler's Symphony for a Thousand at The Point, Dublin.
A change of career brought Diana back to Boston, first obtaining a JD at Boston College Law school, then joining the law offices of Testa, Hurwitz, and Thibeault and then later, Sullivan and Worcester. Her love of music remained as she toured with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart.
Diana was recruited by Abbott Laboratories (later AbbVie) in 2007 and rose to the rank of Senior Counsel. There, Diana met her second husband, Peter Dini, and the two became parishioners of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Wellesley. The couple was granted permission, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, to marry in Diana’s beloved Lincoln College Chapel in 2014 with the college chaplain Reverend Dr. Jack Dunn officiating.
In 2016, Diana and Peter were recruited as Co-Chiefs of Intellectual Property at Sorrento Therapeutics in 2019. Diana later joined Takeda California as Lead Counsel. Now residing in San Diego, Diana sang with the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus, most recently performing Brahms Requiem.
A lover of the outdoors, Diana hiked the White Mountains, the Grand Canyon, and the Austrian Alps. But her favorite pastime was canal boating with friends and family in the United Kingdom.
Diana was preceded in death by her parents, Gerard P. and Virginia A. (Humber) Donahoe, and brother, Gerard P. Donahoe, Jr. She leaves behind her husband Peter, children Conor and Aisling, and stepson Kenneth S. Dini. She also leaves behind sisters, Carol & Kenneth Page of Hollis, NH and Ellen & Joseph Ferreira of Winchester, MA, nieces and nephews, Justin Page, Nicholas Page, Scott Ferreira, Karina Ferreira, Thomas Ferreira, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and dear friends.
A funeral service will be held at Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church, 79 Denton Rd. Wellesley, MA on April 15th, 2023 at 11:00am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. In lieu of flowers, should you desire, please consider donating to Lincoln College through the Americans for Oxford organization to support women in science.
Please submit donations to Donation Link. In the “Further Information” box, please write “Diana Steel/Lincoln”.
If you prefer to send a check, please have checks made out to “Americans for Oxford”, and in the memo “Diana Steel/Lincoln”, and mail them to: University of Oxford North American Office, 500 Fifth Avenue 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10110.