Celeste Diane Totty

Celeste Diane Totty, born March 11 ^th , 1936, passed peacefully on April 14 ^th , 2019, at St. Vincent’s South Community Hospice, in Jacksonville, Florida. The daughter of Celeste Thornton Allen and Martin John Roess, Diane was born in Washington D.C. She grew up in the Venetia neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida, when with her father, and Silver Springs, Florida, when she was with her mother. Owing to this dynamic, she was a woman of two worlds- the city and the country, each of which strongly influenced her. When she struck out on her own, she moved to Winter Park, Florida, where she met and subsequently married John William Totty. She was an exceptional and devoted wife and mother, survived by her five children, John (Jay) William Totty, Jr., Jan Roess Totty, Celeste Lorene Hearon, Joel Martin Totty, and Jeffrey Thornton Totty; her grandchildren Griffin Naish Totty, August Roess Austin-Totty, Owen Steed Austin-Totty, Skylar Rae Totty, Anderson Gray Totty, and John Michael Totty; and her siblings Robert Thornton Roess, Susan Roess Keller, Morgen Leslie Roess, and Allison Roess Stinson. Her brother Martin John Roess III passed in July 2014. As well as numerous Nieces and Nephews.

Winter Park was a special place for Diane- a community of dear friends and most especially a person who was a tremendous source of inspiration for her, Father Al Durrance. Though it was difficult for her to leave this hearth of friendships, she gracefully accepted the family's move to Miami, Florida, in 1967. Diane wore her emotions on her sleeve, and when it came the well-being and nurturing of her children, best not to impede her! Effusively affectionate yet knowing where to draw the line, she was a shoulder to cry on, a dispenser of tough love and wisdom, a tireless and diligent advocate and home-maker, and perhaps most importantly, one to encourage us and to celebrate joyfully both the special and also the seemingly ordinary moments in our lives.

The family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1977, and Diane continued her endeavors as the children continued to grow and thrive and eventually began to leave the nest. In 1989 she moved to Athens, GA, for nineteen extraordinary years, still actively involved with the family as her children prospered and began their own families and careers. She returned to Jacksonville in 2008, and by happenstance and circumstance, by 2019 all of her children, after literally living scattered across the globe for years, were there as well and were all present at her passing- her most heartfelt desire. She will be dearly missed. She is ever present within us always.