The Lunch Lady says goodbye

in 1977, a young 20-year-old hitchhiker found herself in Lincoln without any money. Soon Diane Krier had fallen in love with the town, and for the next 15 years worked at different local businesses to stay here.

“The only place I think I didn’t work at was the Jerky Plant,” she said. “I wanted to live here. I wanted to be here. I was motivated in that direction to live here.”

In 1992, Diane got the job that would cement her place in the community and the lives of generations of Lincoln kids. Three years after first applying, she got a job as a “lunch lady,” cooking at Lincoln Schools.

“I really wanted this job,” Diane said. “I applied for the job and I didn’t get it. They hired some other guy. After about three years he was gone, then they hired Alice (Needles). I applied again when Alice was leaving.”

Diane said she told then-superintendent Dick Trerise that if they’d just hired her the first time, she’d have still been there and they wouldn’t have had to go thorough all that.

On Dec. 16, a little over 30 years since she first set foot in the kitchen at the school, Diane put away her spatula for the last time, headed for retirement.

“I’m retiring because I’ve been here 30 years,” she said with smile a before revealing a more serious reason behind her decision. “No, I have parents back east who are 92. They’re still in the same house.”

She said her three brothers, her sister and their kids back in Ohio are all contributing to helping with her parents, and now it’s her turn. “I’ve got to spend (time with them.) I’m gonna be there for four months,” she said. “I’ve been in Lincoln for more than 45 years. I’ve been away for a while.”

Although Diane is leaving for Ohio, she said it’s only temporary. “I love it here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m just going to do as much as I can with them.”

She also has plans to do a bit of traveling.“I miss that traveling,” she said. “I raised kids. They’re good to go; they’re great human beings. They’re on their way to their own life. It’s just time for me to go see some friends around the country I haven't seen in a long time. They’re all over. I’ve got ‘em everywhere.”

Looking back on her 30 years as the “Lunch Lady,” Diane said its hard to pin down any particular memories.

“The memories are yesterday. I don’t go that far back,” she said.

One memory that did come to mind was a mistake she made in her first year, when she added extra cheese to the mac and cheese without adding extra milk, which led to a rubbery concoction for lunch. “The kids were very polite, but it was horrible.”

She also mentioned the assistants she worked with over the years, including her long-time assistant Patsy Martin, who passed away in 2017

“I really miss her,” Diane said. “She had my back all the time. It’s amazing, that little space in that kitchen. You’ve got to be on the same page at one point because you’ve only got one gig. I miss her. She had it going on.”

Over the years at the school, Diane racked up a number of accomplishments, including winning several awards for food safety including two Golden Fork awards - the highest award from Lewis and Clark County Public Health for food safety - in both 2016 and 2017.

In 2020, Diane was recognized with the Wonderful Outstanding Worker Award from the Montana School Nutrition Association for for “exceptional service and devotion to Montana students,” and that recognizes school food service employees in Montana with “a lot of heart.” .

But above all, it was the students who made the job rewarding for Diane. She said she can look at the wall of senior portraits of Lincoln graduates and find pictures of students she served who then had kids she served years later. And even some of those students have kids in the school who’ve enjoyed Diane’s cooking and sense of humor.

“I love my job. I had the best job in the world, to be around these kids,” she said. “Just like any family it’s challenging. I’ve seen a lot of them come and go. Seen a lot of staff come and go.”

Some of the students she served over the years are now staff members at Lincoln schools, and they and their kids took part in a Dec. 19 school-wide assembly to pay tribute to Diane’s years of keeping Lincoln students fed.

Superintendent Jen Packer got the ball rolling with a modified rendition of Dr. Seuss’ ‘Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”

Packer told the BVD she’s been a really good friend of Diane since 1995, when Packer worked here as a teacher. “I taught her kids, we played softball together, we watched each others houses. So, I’ll miss her dry sense of humor for sure, and tater tot casserole. She’s seen a lot of kids come and go.

Known around town for her own singing and guitar skills, This time it was Diane who was serenaded by the school band, who sang “Happy retirement to you.” That was followed by a skit about time in the school kitchen, including a send up of her first introduction to Lincoln kids and her gruff but humorous interactions with them.

Students also had a chance to step up to the microphone to share their feelings, memories and farewell wishes.

Trevor Tolan, who portrayed Diane in the skit, presented her with a t-shirt he made reading “Retired Lunch Lady. Get your own lunch.”

Video messages from friends and staff members that reminisced about time spent with Diane, from school to softball to camping, capped off the assembly.

“This school is a community. It’s like home for me. I’m gonna come back. I’m gonna see my parents. They’re old and it’s my turn to take care of my parents. I think you guys are gonna all be great,” she told the students and staff. “Thank you so much for showing up…for lunch.”