Donna Dietrich
Donna Virginia “Donalee” Dietrich, 84, of Mars, passed away on Monday afternoon, Nov. 8, 2021, at UPMC Passavant Hospital in McCandless Township.
Born Oct. 25, 1937, in Arnold, Neb., she was the daughter of the late Kermit Keith ad Mamie Irene Osborn Collier.
Donna spent her early childhood near Dunning, Neb., and graduated from Dunning High School.
After college, she taught at the Ray Davis School, and then went to airline school in Omaha. Later, she moved to San Francisco, working as a Pan American Airline teletypist, where she met her husband, David Allen Dietrich, whom she married on Sept. 16, 1957, in Burlington, Calif. After Dave got out of the U.S. Coast Guard, they moved to Milan, Mich., where she drove a school bus, then to Bethel Park, before settling in Mars in 1976.
She enjoyed the 12 years she spent wintering in Yuma, Ariz., with family and friends.
She was a member of Mars United Presbyterian Church.
She worked in loan support at Mars National Bank, retiring in April of 2000, after 21 years of service.
She loved tracing family roots and after retirement, she traveled to many places where her ancestors lived and met many new cousins. She was able to complete a book of her research on both parents' families. She did volunteer work on the internet, helping people with their families from the Blaine County, Neb. area, using the scrapbooks her mother had kept through the years. She belonged to the Cranberry Genealogy Society, and many others around the U.S. She recently was awarded the DAR certificate with her ancestor being Captain Enoch Osborne.
She loved gardening and raising flowers and veggies.
Surviving are three sons, Ken Dietrich, Danny Dietrich (Rona) and Mark Dietrich (Cindy); her grandchildren, Eugene (Brandy) Dietrich, Shannon (Rob) Baucan, Jamie (Justan) Moody, Casey (Eric) Kaltenbach, Lauren Dietrich and Dillon Dietrich; her great- grandchildren, Rylee, Haydan, Rob, Ellie, Tanner, Aryhana, Taigyn and Coltan; her stepgrandchildren, Holly, Robin and Steven and their families; and her beloved cats, Patches and Jolene.
She was preceded in death by her husband, David A. Dietrich, who died on May 19, 2021; and by a brother, Gwynne.
DIETRICH — Friends of Donna Virginia “Donalee” Dietrich, who died Monday, Nov. 8, 2021, will be received from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday at McDonald-Aeberli Funeral Home, 238 Crowe Ave., Mars.
Services will follow at 4 p.m. at the funeral home.
Burial will be in Mars Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Butler County Humane Society, 1015 Evans City Road, Renfrew, PA 16053, or to Sandhills Museum, P.O. Box 6, Dunning, NE 68833 in her honor.
Directions and condolences are available at www.mcdonald-aeberli.com.
