Biography

Diana Lynn Doocy Koppen was born March 25, 1960 in Owatonna, Minnesota, one of five children of Gladys Kathleen Helland Doocy, a teacher, and George Bernard Doocy Jr., a builder, painter, car service manager, and oil distributor. Doocy graduated from Spirit Lake High School in 1978, then earned a bachelor's degree in education with a coaching endorsement from the University of Northern Iowa in 1982. That same year, she married Wayne Koppen; the couple have one son, Samuel (born 1995). Koppen has worked as an elementary school educator in various towns in Iowa, including Harlan, Denison, and Spencer, for more than 37 years. Koppen is also the niece of Marion Helland, a teacher and civil rights activist (see IWA1390). Koppen and her sister, Pam Doocy-Curry, wrote a biography of Helland, and Koppen has curated an exhibit featuring her story in Spencer, Iowa, where she currently lives with her husband.

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