Diana Hawkes Smith Beuttas passed away peacefully in her sleep on April 3rd, 2019 after a brief illness. She was ninety-three.
An artist, designer, collector, and deeply self sufficient “renaissance woman,” Diana dedicated a large portion of her life to the development of her mind, body, and spirit. She participated in evolutionary philosophy and literature groups, spent many hours attending lectures and events at the Aspen Institute, was an early advocate for Anderson Ranch and the Aspen Ideas Festival, and an avid reader and student of the world. She lived her life with a conscious determination, presence and purpose that was apparent to all who met her. Her great loves of art and nature were deeply connected — whether she was making beautiful photographs on her many adventures in the Rocky Mountains, or collecting stones, feathers, and pine cones with her grand children.
The daughter of Belknap Carlton Hawkes and Alice Smart Hawkes, she was born on May 5th, 1925 in Buffalo, New York. Diana spent her childhood along side her siblings Ben and Phoebe in Kansas City, Missouri and on the north shore of Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from Wellesley College, she studied Interior Design in Boston and received a Masters Degree in photography from IIT’s Institute of Design in Chicago. She married twice, to George Dresser Smith II and Paul Joseph Beuttas, and raised two children as a long time resident of Winnetka and Glencoe, Illinois, later relocating to Tiburon California. Diana first came to Aspen on a ski holiday in 1949, and after many return visits and falling in love with the town, purchased a house on Hopkins Avenue in 1967, becoming a permanent resident roughly thirty years ago.
An active member of the Aspen community, her many years here were filled with countless lunches and dinners, deep discussions, and many laughs. She greatly valued the relationships made here and served as a beacon, attracting friends and family to the roaring fork valley. As the longest serving board member of her most recent home, the Villas of Aspen, Diana was a friend, community leader, and contributed greatly to the aesthetic of the complex, applying her many years as a successful designer with Casella Interior Design Group in Chicago and California.
Diana was predeceased by her brother Benjamin Carlton Hawkes and her son, Christopher Hawkes Smith, an Aspen business man and builder. She is survived by her sister Phoebe Hawkes McMath, a longtime Aspen resident, her daughter Deborah Smith Hatch, and two daughters-in-law, Leslie June Smith and Antonia Zurcher. Her five grand children are Colby June Fulton, Colter Hawkes Smith, Bridger Robin Smith, Sumner Wells Hatch and Travis Hawkes Hatch. She was also the proud great-grandmother of Perry and Christopher Fulton and Hawkes Smith.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Independence Pass Foundation. PO Box 1700, Aspen CO, 81612.