Diana Brasfield

Diana Lucille Whitten Sedberry Brasfield, 79, of Middlebrook, passed away on Monday, December 8, 2025, at Augusta Health in Fishersville.

Diana is survived by her husband Dr. Kenneth H. Brasfield. They were married for 38 years.

Diana is survived by her siblings, Kay Warfield and Maxine Bird of Greensboro, NC, Kim Perkins of Fayette, Alabama, Kandice Flynn of Ardmore, TN, and Billy and Victor Whitten of Alabama.

Diana grew up on a small farm in Gordo, Alabama where she graduated from high school. She attended the University of Alabama School of Nursing in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama where she graduated with a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) in 1968. Next, she became a psychiatric nurse at a private psychiatric hospital (Bay Pines) in Panama City, Florida then the nurse in charge of the psychiatric unit at a Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Florida. She eventually moved to North Carolina and was the charge nurse on the inpatient psychiatric unit at Duke University. She then left Duke and began working as a nursing supervisor at a private psychiatric hospital (Charter Hospital of Greensboro) in Greensboro, NC.

She met her future husband, Dr. Kenneth H. Brasfield, at Charter Hospital of Greensboro, and they married in May of 1987. Thus began her new life, as the couple moved from Greensboro and settled in Middlebrook, VA in 1988. Diana continued her nursing career with Augusta Medical Center, then Augusta Health Center with Hospice and Home Health Care Services. She retired in 2008.

After moving to Middlebrook, Diana and Ken began their long-term project of restoring their circa 1830 Half-Georgian Shenandoah Valley farmhouse, the circa late 1860s post and beam barn, and slowly turning the abused land into productive forests and pollinator meadows. Diana helped plant about 10,000 trees over the years creating a patchwork of forests, edge, and pollinator meadows intersected with about 4-miles of trails fit for her golf cart. When they purchased their property, the many streams ran cloudy with run off - now they run crystal clear. Recognition for their efforts came from the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the American Tree Farm System, the Virginia Department of Forestry Forest Stewardship Program, and the Governor’s Office by being recognized as a Virginia Treasure.

Diana was an avid nature lover and reveled in the results of their conservation efforts as the number and variety of wildlife flourished. She was admired by many for her kind, gentle, and patient nature. To know Diana was to love her.

Diana and Ken were members of the founding Board of Directors of the Valley Conservation Council, now the Shenandoah Valley Conservancy. They placed their restored and rejuvenated property in a conservation easement in 2015. Diana can rest knowing our beloved land is safe forever from development by any future owner.

Diana was also highly supportive of Ken’s vintage car hobby. It was a joint effort as Ken never purchased or sold a vintage car without her input and permission. She looked forward to any of their frequent long-distance journeys in one of their vintage MGs or Mercedes Benz automobiles. In fact, it was Ken’s 1954 Chevy 210 Sedan that he used as a daily driver, at least in part, that was an attraction for Diana when they were dating in the early and middle 1980’s. They still have that car.

Their life together was a true partnership.

At this time, there are no services.