LOUDONVILLE - Diana Elhoff Pinto moved to her next chapter at age 68, dying peacefully on June 10, 2026, surrounded by loved ones. She was always an optimistic hippie at heart. She had an idyllic childhood in New Hyde Park on Long Island, thanks to her free-spirited parents, Marilyn (Yates) and Philip Elhoff. Her husband, Andrew Pinto, liked to joke it was "the land of yes". An only child, Diana went on many adventures with her parents by car, camping across the U.S., Canada and up the Hudson River on their boat as far as Burlington, Vt. When she was 14, her parents allowed her to bring a friend on the trip, and Kathy Hess became her lifelong best friend. Her favorite memories were heading to Upstate New York, where they packed up their camping gear and left at 4:30 a.m. to avoid rush hour traffic into 'the City'. Diana decided early on that moving to Upstate N.Y. would be her goal.

After graduating from NHP Memorial High School in 1975, Diana did get off the island a few times but kept ending up back. She graduated from Hofstra University Summa Cum Laude with a B.A in Philosophy.

In a wonderful twist of fate, her mother ran into a high school friend of Diana's (Andy!), and they reconnected. Within a few months, they married in 1980. He was the love of her life. It was the best decision she ever made. After a few years of Diana's encouragement, they moved to Albany and at Andy's urging, had their first child, Michelle Marilyn (Jerrod Dillon). Michelle is a wonderful daughter, who loves all living things, especially horses. Next came their son, Daniel Christopher (Sophia Spector), the adventurer. He is Diana's kindred spirit. Her children are her biggest accomplishments, although she wished sometimes their favorite activities were a little safer, like gardening.

Diana never learned to cook, but fortunately for her, Andy enjoyed it. She always felt lucky to have him by her side throughout her life, even after their honeymoon when she ended up in the hospital and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She would often joke Andy should have gotten a 30-day warranty.

Diana began working in a Howard Johnson's while in HS and received the sage advice that a good waitress works with her brain, not her feet. After graduating college, she moved to more traditional 9-5 jobs in business, where she learned from both mentors and horrible bosses alike. She obtained her master's degree from the University of Albany's evening MBA program at the same time as they were starting their family, something she always said she would never have been able to achieve without Andy's support. She retired as a Director of Project Management working for New York State. The highlight of her career was teaching Project Management in the SUNY Albany MBA program for eight years. She finally had attained her original vocational goal of teaching.

Married 45 years, Andy and Diana loved their many years together. They enjoyed numerous road trips in retirement including wintering in Florida and owning a townhouse in Lake George with Andy's sister Lisa Pinto (Christine Gorman).

She will miss all the fun that life has given her and hopefully, will be in touch soon.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, June 26, at 1:00 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany, N.Y. A reception will be held at the church following the service. If you wish to honor Diana's memory, please consider making a donation to the National MS Society by visiting www.nationalmssociety.org. 

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of The Dufresne & Cavanaugh Funeral Home, Latham. For additional information or to express a sentiment of condolence, please visit www.dufresneandcavanaugh.com.