Diane Townsend Rault

Diane Townsend Rault, daughter of former Sandpoint residents Loren and Barbara Townsend, died Wednesday, July 23, 2008, at Barnwell Nursing Home in Valatie, N.Y., of breast cancer.

Born Colleen Marie Townsend, April 15, 1954, Tucson, Ariz., Diane was one of the first to earn a bachelor's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Washington in the 1970s when the field of ESL was newly emerging due to an influx of refugees from Southeast Asia. She taught ESL and French in Washington state, Arizona, Virginia, Idaho, and China.

She is survived by two children, Patrick Rault, 26, of Geneseo, N.Y., and Steffany Krisniski, 29, of Livingston, N.Y., and a grandchild, Autumn Sky Krisniski, born Feb. 13, 2008.