Diana Thoma Knox (Dee Dee), age 88, of Annapolis, Maryland died peacefully on February 7, 2021.  The cause was pneumonia.   She was cared for by the loving staff of Household of Angels in Severna Park, MD.

The youngest of three daughters, Dee Dee was born on April 3, 1932 in Buffalo, NY to Marion D. and Roswell F. Thoma of Buffalo and East Aurora, NY.

A graduate of the Masters School, Dobbs Ferry, NY, she attended Buffalo Seminary, Wheaton College and the University of Florence, Italy.  She was presented as a debutante at the Saturn Club of Buffalo, where Lester Lanin and his orchestra provided the entertainment. Her entire life she was an avid equestrian, particularly in her youth, riding in competitions and hunts.  She loved dogs, especially her two Great Danes, Gretchen and Sapphire.

Dee Dee's career began in the early 1950s working on the society desk for the Buffalo Evening News.

She married Robert A. Kaiser (d.) in June of 1954 with whom she had four children. The marriage ended in divorce.  As a single mother of four, Dee Dee opened and operated a designer dress shop in Buffalo called the Boutique Caprice, featuring such designers as Vera and Emilio Pucci.  Active in civic affairs early in life, she served on the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Buffalo and as corresponding secretary of the Women's Committee of Studio Arena Theatre.

In 1969, she married Nelson Rulison Knox, Jr. (d.) who had three children of his own and, with Dee Dee's four, the Brady Bunch soon descended on the Lindamoor community in Annapolis, Maryland.  The big house on the water became a popular meeting place for dozens of neighborhood children (eventually requiring Dee Dee to put locks on the kitchen doors.)  In Annapolis, Dee Dee opened Charisma, a popular gift and import shop on Main Street and brought down her magnificent assistant from the Buffalo store, Mary Stagg, to help run it.  She served as the president of the Republican Women's Club of Anne Arundel County and as a Board member of the Caritas Society.  For many years Dee Dee also co-owned and published a small local magazine, The Annapolitan .  Dee Dee was recognized in the Marquis' 12 ^th Edition of Who's Who of American Women. A lifelong Episcopalian, Dee Dee was a member of St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Annapolis. She loved reading and crossword puzzles but perhaps found her greatest delight in often correcting her children's English. One of her favorite admonishments was, "kids are baby goats."

Dee Dee was preceded in death by her parents, and two sisters, Patricia Johnson and Marion Bailie and her beloved stepson Ruly (or "Schnerbs", as she called him). She is survived by four children: Diana K. Bulger (Tom) of Washington, DC; Robert A. Kaiser, Jr. (Timothy S. Deal), of Mount Vernon, NY; Hans T. Kaiser (Anne) of Annapolis, MD; Peter T. Kaiser (Mary) of Annapolis, MD, and four grandchildren: Heinz F. Kaiser, Audrey P. Kaiser, Robert A. Kaiser and David A. Kaiser.

Plans for a service in Annapolis have not been completed. A private memorial will be held this summer in East Aurora, NY. Donations may be sent to the Caritas Society, https://community.stjohnscollege.edu/give or Gray Face Acres Senior Dog Rescue, P.O. Box 393, Catharpin, VA 20143 https://www.grayfaceacres.org .