This memorial website was created to honor the life of Judith “Dianne” Hanna-Massey, who passed away on January 7, 2021, in Tucson, Arizona from complications of Covid-19. She was seventy five.
Dianne, who family called “Dee-Dee”, was born on July 14, 1945 in Long Beach CA to Mark and Ruth Andrews. She spent her youth between Pensacola, Florida and Long Beach, California. Soon after graduating high school, she met her first husband, Terry Pressman, and together they had a son, Michael. A few years after divorcing Terry, Dianne would meet her second husband, Richard Hanna. The two moved to Alabama and raised two children, Richard and Kelly. They shared an adventurous life by living in many states across America as well as several years in Europe. After returning to America, and settling in Tucson, AZ, Dianne and Richard would eventually divorce after eighteen years of marriage. Years later, Dianne would meet her third husband, Ira James “Jim” Massey, a marriage that lasted over thirty years.
Dianne was a gifted artist, a poet and a talented musician and songwriter. She was known as a caring person, who deeply loved her children and extended family. She adored animals, was a sucker for a good romance novel and binging the latest hit T.V. series. Her family and friends will always remember her as a unique, kind and giving person. A dreamer and a believer. Dianne was a woman, who above all else, loved to sing. She could always sniff out a Karaoke bar, but she also spent 40 years performing off and on at various venues, including: Knotts Berry Farm, the London Hyatt, Arizona State Fairs, Christmas festivals, piano bars, yacht clubs and restaurants across America. She even once performed at the Gibson Theatre of Nashville, TN as part of the 2006 showcase show for Nashville Music Network, a true highlight for her. Dianne also performed in Tucson’s local theatre rendition of, “Annie Got Your Gun”. In addition to singing, she loved songwriting and one of her proudest achievements was writing the song, “Twinkle Twinkle, Freedom Star”, to benefit the families of U.S. soldiers.
At the time of her death, Dianne was survived by her husband Jim, of Tucson, AZ, who sadly passed away on February 27, 2021. Dianne is survived by her sister, Dayna Kaye Heit, of Boca Raton, FL; her brother, Robert Craig Andrews, of Las Vegas, NV; her son, Michael Pressman of Seattle, WA; her son, Richard Terry Hanna, Jr. and his wife, Tanya, of Boston, MA; her daughter, Kelly Devanney and her husband Tom, of Palm Springs, CA; her step-children, Cindy Weeks, Cristi Basham, Tom Massey, and Jaime Booth of Tucson, AZ and Daniel Massey of Spokane, WA. She is also survived by her nephew, Stephen Kaye; niece, Allie Kaye Dakers; and eleven grandchildren, all spread across the U.S. from Boston, MA to Big Sur, CA. She also leaves behind her beloved poodle, Smoky, who is being cared for by family.
Dianne is preceded in death by her father, Mark Elmer Andrews, of Las Vegas, NV; her mother, Imma Ruth Andrews; her step-mother, Nita Andrews of Las Vegas, NV; her step-father, James “Jim” Noeson, of Sun City, CA; and her many aunts, uncles and cousins.
Due to Covid-19, memorial arrangements were delayed until June 11th, 2021, when she was laid to rest alongside her husband Jim, in a family ceremony at East Lawn Palms in Tucson, AZ.
Dianne took great pride in being a military mom, so, in lieu of flowers, please send donations in her name to
The Yellow Ribbon Fund, a nonprofit founded in 2005 to provide enhanced support to wounded, ill, and injured service members, their caregivers and families during their medical recovery and reintegration into civilian life.
