Obituary: Rev. Thomas E. Dietrich, Class of 1958, Distinguished Alumnus 1994

12-07-2010

By Grayson Van Camp

Rev. Thomas E. Dietrich of Oconomowoc, Michigan, age 78 years, died on November 29, 2009. He is survived by his wife Dorothy G. (Gamber) Dietrich (MATS, 1983), daughter Karen K. Dietrich, Corte Madera, CA., and son Rev. Stephen T. Dietrich (Dr. Ursula Bechert and her son Sean) of Corvallis, OR.  He is also survived by his sister Marlea Sechtig of West Bend.

Tom attended Solomon Juneau High school, graduated Carroll College in 1953, graduated from McCormick Theological Seminary in 1958 and was ordained at Greenfield Avenue Presbyterian Church that same year. He was honored by McCormick in 1994 with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.  Tom served congregations in San Francisco, CA, Philadelphia, PA, Madison, WI, served on The National Staff of The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., in Church Redevelopment in Louisville, KY, and with The Presbytery in Cleveland, OH. He was honorably retired in 2001. Memorial services wereheld on Saturday, December 5, 2009, at Delafield Presbyterian Church (1851 Genesee St., Delafield, WI).

Correspondence may be sent to Tom’s wife, Dorothy G. Dietrich, at 687 Hickory Creek Drive, Oconomowoc, WI  53066.

Do you remember:

Trying to make the connection between “The world as it is” and “God’s dream for the world as it should be.” Between what we were learning in the McCormick Library and what we saw happening out on Halsted and Fullerton Streets?  Our McCormick political experiences!  Has it been our burden or our blessing over the past 5 decades?

All the sermons we preached to our Congregations, struggling to make the “connection” between the biblical text and the “real world” of our people.

All the hours we put in meetings, trying to make the “connection” between a particular social justice issue and the messy everyday life of congregations, Presbyteries and communities . . .?

Well …… here we all are . . . 50 years later! Our memories not as sharp as they once were. Our bodies slowed down by arthritis or whatever, and yet I imagine many of us still trying to make the “connections!”

You know it would be so much easier to just “retire” - to let younger folk worry about “connection!”

But . . . would life be as exciting? Would life be as much fun?  Burden or Blessing?

Maybe some of both!

Shalom,

Tom