Donna Virginia “Donalee” Dietrich, 84, of Mars, Pennsylvania, passed away on Monday afternoon, Nov. 8, 2021, at UPMC Passavant Hospital in McCandless Township.
Born Oct. 25, 1937, in Arnold, Nebraska, she was the daughter of the late Kermit Keith and Mamie Irene Osborn Collier.
Donna spent her early childhood near Dunning, Nebraska, 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 Airlines tele-typist, where she met her husband, David Allen Dietrich, whom she married on Sept. 16, 1957, in Burlington, California. After Dave got out of the U.S. Coast Guard, they moved to Milan, Michigan, where she drove a school bus, then to Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, before settling in Mars in 1976.
She enjoyed the 12 years she spent wintering in Yuma, Arizona, with family and friends.
She was a member of the 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, Nebraska, 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), grandchildren, Eugene (Brandy) Dietrich, Shannon (Rob) Baucan, Jamie (Justan) Moody, Casey (Eric) Kaltenbach, Lauren Dietrich and Dillon Dietrich, greatgrandchildren, Rylee, Haydan, Rob, Ellie, Tanner, Aryhana, Taigyn and Coltan, 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.
Funeral services were held on Nov. 11, 2021, at the McDonald-Aeberli Funeral Home in Mars. Burial was in Mars Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Butler County Humane Society, 1015 Evans City Rd. Renfrew, PA 16053 or to Sandhills Museum, P.O. Box 6, Dunning, NE 68833 in her honor.
Condolences are available at www.mcdonalda-aeberli.com.