Nine-term State Representative Dianne Miller Hamilton passed away at her home in Tijeras on Tuesday after a short illness at the age of 87. She represented District 38 as state representative, including Grant, Sierra, and Hidalgo counties from 1998-2016.
Dianne was born in Kansas City, Mo., on January 31, 1934, to Dr. Lawrence and Thelma Miller. She attended Catholic parochial schools until high school, graduating from Southwest High in 1951. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 1955 with a degree in speech communication. She taught in Kansas City public schools and pursued a broadcasting career until she married her husband of 60 years, Marine Corps officer John A. Hamilton, in December of 1956.
For the next 20 years Hamilton followed her husband’s career through the military and its many moves while raising their four children: son Drew and daughters Jared, Lynn, and Merritt. After John retired from the Marines, the family moved to Silver City in 1974 where John worked for the local copper mine.
Dianne hosted two daily radio programs in Silver City on KSIL Radio from 1976-1999. Nearly everyone in Grant County remembers listening to Dianne or being a guest on her shows. During the last 45 years, she held leadership roles in many community organizations including the Grant County Arts Council, the Gila Regional Medical Center Foundation, the board of Hidalgo Medical Services, and the Silver City Library Board. In 1980 she became an associate member of her local LULAC council. That same year she helped to found Silver City’s first shelter for victims of domestic violence, El Refugio, which continues to help abuse victims four decades later.
Dianne was appointed to the Western New Mexico University Board of Regents in 1990 by Governor Bruce King. She served until 1998, serving as President of the Board for the last four years of her term. She received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexican Women in 1994 and was named the Silver City/Grant County Citizen of the Year in 1995.
She was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives in 1998 and held the seat until her retirement in 2016. She represented District 38, covering Grant, Sierra, and Hidalgo counties. Dianne carried numerous pieces of legislation aimed at helping ranchers and veterans. She was always available to all her constituents.
In 2000, Dianne received the New Mexico District Attorney’s Award for Outstanding Representative of the Year. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from WNMU in 2006. On November 11th, 2009, the Dianne Miller Hamilton Military Museum celebrated its grand opening in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
Dianne is survived by her children, John Andrew Hamilton of College Station, TX; Jared Miller Hamilton of Albuquerque; Lynn Hamilton O’Connell of Arlington, VA; and Merritt Hamilton Allen of Tijeras, NM; as well as her granddaughters, Blythe Hamilton, and Joan Marie O’Connell. She is also survived by three generations of Armstrongs led by Bobbi and Rich Armstrong.
The State of New Mexico will honor Dianne on Monday, Nov. 22 when she lies in state in the state Capitol rotunda from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Francis Newman Center Parish in Silver City on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m., followed by a reception at the Student Memorial Center at Western New Mexico University. She will be interred with her husband John at Arlington National Cemetery.
She has been entrusted to the care of Terrazas Funeral Chapel in Silver City, and more details can be found at terrazasfuneralchapel.com. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Hamilton Military Museum, P.O. Box 472, Truth or Consequences, N.M. 87101.