BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Diane Schostak, a longtime Forks resident, member of a legendary West End pioneer family, former director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce and retired executive director of the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau, is dead at 59.
Schostak, who was being treated for stage 4 breast cancer, died in California, where she had been visiting her daughter in Bakersfield.
Her husband, Ken, posted the following Facebook message Tuesday morning:
“My love of my life, Diane Schostak passed away last night. There is not enough words to say about her except I loved her dearly.
“A calmness is inside me because God has plans for her. Diane was loved by so many; what a blessing.
“Thank you all for caring and showing your love and support during these difficult and trying days.”
Schostak died at the home of her daughter, Crystal Yaede, in Bakersfield, surrounded by her family, said Marsha Massey, executive director of the Olympic visitor bureau. She had worked with Schostak when Massey served as state tourism director.
The family has not yet made plans for memorial services, Massey said Tuesday after speaking with Ken Schostak.
Schostak, whose West End roots date back to the pioneer days in the Hoh River valley, began a career in the tourism industry after the timber crisis of the early 1990s.
She became executive director of the Forks chamber in 1997 and was hired to become executive director of the Olympic visitor bureau in 2006. The bureau is headquartered in Port Angeles.
Citing health issues and a desire to spend more time with family, Schostak retired as executive director of the regional visitor bureau in July 2014.
She visited her daughter and saw her new grandchildren — twins born Feb. 17 — before becoming so weak a family member announced on Facebook that she likely would not return to her home in Forks.
“We are all greatly saddened by the news of Diane Schostak’s death,” Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau board members said in a news release Tuesday.
“Diane was a visionary, a dedicated and tireless leader in building the tourism industry for the Olympic Peninsula.
“Through her commitment to partnerships and her cooperative spirit, Diane always kept her eye on the big picture, and helped us do so as well.
“She has left a great foundation on which to continue to build.”
Massey described Schostak as “a force of nature.
“No one could represent the North Olympic Peninsula more than Diane. She was passionate about it and she encouraged the rest of the state to share that passion.
Christina Pivarnik of Port Townsend, who worked with Schostak for eight years after Pivarnik took over marketing for the city of Port Townsend, said Schostak was “a dear friend.”
Both were appointed to the board for the Washington Tourism Alliance in 2011.
“Her passion for our beautiful Pacific Northwest and especially the Olympic Peninsula was profound, inspirational and infectious,” Pivarnik said.
Mary Brelsford, communications manager for the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau, said Schostak had a special bond with her staff.
“Anytime she decided impromptu to check something out or go hiking in the woods, I had high heels on and I ruined a lot of shoes,” Brelsford said.
“She was always ready to explore new things. I loved that about her. She was always curious and ready to check something new out.”
The daughter of a logger, Schostak met her future husband, Ken, at a Saturday night dance in 1978 and was engaged two days later.
The Schostaks ran a shake and shingle mill until the northern spotted owl landed on the threatened species list, affecting an already-lagging timber industry.
The couple realized that the regional economy had to shift, Schostak told a Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce audience at a 2006 luncheon.
The Schostaks opened an outfitting business, serving as guides for young explorers drawn to the natural beauty of the coastline.
By 1992, Schostak was collaborating with other tourism businesses and organized a tour for travel journalists.
Her great-grandfather was John Huelsdonk — the Iron Man of the Hoh — a homesteader who settled near Forks in 1891.
According to legend, Huelsdonk carried an iron stove on his back as he trekked along the river. Mrs.
Schostak quipped at the 2006 luncheon that he was actually carrying a shifting sack of flour.
More than 130 well-wishers told Schostak what she meant to them at a Jan. 16 dinner and silent-auction benefit held on her behalf at Lake Crescent Lodge.
The benefit, billed as “A Night with Diane,” raised about $9,000 to help cover Schostak’s medical expenses as she was being treated for stage 4 breast cancer.
“She was so happy that night. I’m glad I got to remember her that way,” said Lissy Andros, executive director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce.
“Diane will be greatly missed. She was an innovator. We’re just devastated,” Andros said.
“She was really one of a kind.”
At the event, Schostak told the Peninsula Daily News that she had “lived a blessed life.”
“Life is important, and the care we have for each other is probably the most important thing we have,” Schostak said.
In addition to her husband and her daughter in Bakersfield, Schostak is survived by daughter Pam Gibbons of Kennewick; daughter Nicole Realing of LaPush; three brothers John, Dana and Kelly Jordan all in Keizer, Ore.; her mother, Bobbie Jordan of Keizer; sister Kathie Beach, also of Keizer; sister Darlene Rondeau and brothers Brad and Bill Fletcher and Pinky Fletcher, all of Forks; and her stepmother, Barb Fletcher of Forks.
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Staff writers Rob Ollikainen and Paul Gottlieb, features editor Diane Urbani de la Paz and managing editor/news Leah Leach contributed to this report.
