Diane Gansauer

Diane Gansauer has created customized ceremonies for most of her adult life. Since she was a child, she has loved dance, theater, music and been "at home" in church and other spiritual settings. She found her spiritual and artistic home as a Life-Cycle Celebrant® through the Celebrant Foundation & Institute. Being a Celebrant combines artistic expression, spirituality, and her family's Celtic roots -- particularly connected to respect for Nature, the power of places in personal history, and reverence for each person's story. She founded the Celebrant Services Program for several funeral homes in the metro-Denver area while holding one of the few full-time Funeral Celebrant positions in the United States. She is also the founder and owner of Lyrical Life Ceremonies, Ltd., through which she creates ceremonies across the full spectrum of life's transitions. Many of her ceremonies occur in the great outdoors. At home in the Rocky Mountains, Diane completed the Continental Divide Trail in 2023. She hiked most of this 3100-mile trek from Mexico to Canada when she was over the age of 60 and 1000 miles of it by herself. Diane grew up on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula in California and attended The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she earned an Interdisciplinary BA in The Arts. In New York City, Washington, DC, and Pittsburgh, she dove into dance, choreography, music, and theater, and managed productions Off-Broadway, at The Kennedy Center, and on the road. She has an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, a Masters Certification from the Celebrant Foundation, and a Doctorate in Ministry from The New Seminary (the oldest interfaith seminary in the United States). She is an avid student of storytelling, especially as it relates to ceremonies, and has frequently taught and mentored celebrants in this skill. Diane has been married to the same good man since 1982. They live in Evergreen, Colorado. They have one daughter.