Obituary of Diadre Renee House

Diadre Renee House, 74, of Chico, CA, died on January 7, 2024, after a brief onset of aggressive cancer. She was born on June 4, 1949, in San Francisco, CA, to Edward "Duke" House, Jr. and Florence Werts House.

Diadre graduated from Willows High School in 1967, where she was head cheerleader, Lamb Derby Princess, and basketball homecoming queen. After high school, she attended California State University at Chico from 1967 to 1969, where she pledged Alpha Chi sorority and met her first husband, Larry Dalrymple. They married in 1969 and moved to Texas and then South Carolina for Larry's position in the U.S. Air Force. Diadre earned a bachelors degree from the University of South Carolina in 1973 and later attended the University of Alaska from 1974 to 1977. She and Larry divorced in 1979, but Diadre stayed in Fairbanks, Alaska, where she taught physical education at West Valley High School for several years. In 1985, she met her second husband, Ron Metzler, on an airplane; the couple married in 1987. Diadre then moved to Fresno to live with Ron and attended California State University at Fresno during that time. Diadre completed a masters degree in education and continued to teach physical education in the Fresno area in the late 80’s and early 90’s. She and Ron lived in Fresno, CA, for many years before moving to Tucson, AZ. Diadre cared for Ron devotedly until his death in 2015 from ALS disease. In 2022, she married her third husband, Tomás Bazán, a high school sweetheart, and the couple moved back to their roots in Chico, CA soon after marrying.

Diadre was a great enthusiast of the visual arts – especially modern art – and interior design. She collected and studied books on a wide variety of modern artists, her favorite being Egon Schiele. Her homes were beautifully appointed with an eclectic collection of art pieces acquired over the course of her life. She brought beauty, style, and grace to her living space and generously shared both art pieces and her keen sense of balance and beauty with family and friends. She also created art as an avid needlepoint artist, stitching colorful, textured needlepoint tapestries, which were frequently custom designed for the lucky recipients.

Diadre also volunteered and worked for several museums throughout her life, serving as docent and art educator, a position she especially liked when the students were young children. She also enjoyed travel, cooking, and gardening: she was always interested in learning the quirky details about a new place, a process, or an unusual plant. In Tucson, she learned all about various desert plants and cacti and became a master gardener.

Diadre loved her pets, and she was especially fond of Zee, a huge, gentle Rottweiler who was her steadfast companion following the death of her second husband, and Joy, Diadre’s sweet kitty, kept her company during the last days of her life.

Diadre is survived by her husband, Tomás Bazán, of Chico, CA; her sister, Dee House, of San Diego, CA; her stepchildren, Eric Metzler (Michael DeNunzio), Tracy Metzler, Ryan Metzler

(Erika), and Michael Metzler (Patrice); and her step grandchildren, all from the Metzler clan: Elliott, Paige, Kendall, Morgan, Jonathan, Katherine, and Matthew. She was preceded in death by her parents, Edward "Duke" House, Jr. and Florence Werts House; and her second husband, Ron Metzler.

A celebration of Diadre’s life with a luncheon to follow will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 11:00 AM at the Willows Veterans Memorial Hall in Willows, 525 W. Sycamore Street, Willows, CA 95988.