Name: Diane Macaluso Peña
Occupation: Retired teacher – 20 years in classroom, 7 years as Assistant to the Head of School, all at Trinity Episcopal School
Currently, I work in our family business, Kleen Janitorial and Swimming Pool Supply Company.
How long have you attended FLC? I was baptized in the “old church”, confirmed and married in the “new church.” My only break from attending regularly was when I was in college, and even then I would drive home to attend church!
Group(s) you play with and instruments you play in them: I have been in FLC choirs since I was of school age. I was in the Knabechor, St. Martin’s Choristers, Confirmation Choir, and then the Adult Choir, or now called Gallery Choir, of which I am still a member. It was through FLC’s Choir School that I attended in my youth that I learned how to play the recorder. I was surprised I remembered how to play when Kelsey started the recorder group for Joyful Noise!
Short biography about your life:
I am a second generation BOI. My mother, the first generation BOI, was baptized, confirmed, married and buried at First Lutheran. My mother was very musical – she played piano and sang in the choirs at FLC. She also taught in the Choir School at FLC, and hence my siblings and I and any neighborhood kids she could find attended the school on Tuesdays after school. I have a love of music that was kindled by my mom and First Lutheran Church. I sang in a choir at college and also earned a minor in music along with my degree in education.
I enjoy traveling, going to live performances (musicals, plays, and concerts), shopping, and loving on my grandchildren. I enjoy playing piano, but only for myself, and, thanks to Kelsey and Don, performing with groups like the recorder ensemble and choir. I love working with our worship team to make our services inspiring and meaningful.
This July, it will be 40 years since Carlos and I were married at First Lutheran Church by Pastor Rabel and Pastor Guthier. (Pastor Doug was just a young fellow then!) We have two married children and three grandchildren. Our daughter, Stephanie Frye, her husband Matt, and their daughter, Edie, live in Galveston and are members of First Lutheran. Stephanie is an administrator at Trinity Episcopal School where Edie attends, and Matt is an assistant coach and pre-ap economics and civics teacher at Clear Lake High School. Our son, Steven, his wife, Stephanie, and their sons, Bryson and Asher, live in Corinth, just north of Dallas. Steven is a hospital environmental services supervisor, and his wife, Stephanie, is a financial officer with an international company. Bryson will soon be in second grade and Asher is in preschool.
