Yancey Wesley Dittlinger

After living a full and productive life, Yancey Wesley Dittlinger, 96, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, December 25, 2015. Wesley was born on December 11, 1919 in Austin, Texas. He was the first of three children born to Nicholas and Luella Dittlinger. After Luella’s death in 1924, Minnie Jones, Luella’s sister, took the three Dittlinger children to raise on the ranch she and husband Arthur owned in Hornsby Bend. While growing up and working on the ranch, Wesley attended Hornsby Dunlap and Manor schools. When he was 11 he met his future wife, Jimmie Ella Lee, at a picture memory contest. They would marry in 1943, beginning what would be a 70 year union of love and commitment. In July of 1939 Wesley joined the U.S. Navy. His duty stations included destroyers, cruisers, sub tenders, submarines, and battleships. He was stationed at the Navy Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked. He participated in numerous battles during WWII (Midway, Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, Luzon, and others) along with a year of submarine patrols. In the Korean War Wesley was part of the Inchon Invasion and the Hungnam Evacuation. He also went ashore as a ground fire control spotter for the USS New Jersey, directing gun fire and providing cover for South Korean ground forces. Between the two wars Wesley attended engineering school in Washington, D.C. He retired from the Navy in 1959 at the rank of Warrant Officer. In 1962 he began work as an electrical engineer for the Naval Astronautics Group, first in Hawaii and later in California. After retiring from Civil Service in 1977 he and Jimmie moved back home to Austin where Wesley began his third career, real estate. Being an avid golfer, he played at least twice a week. He also enjoyed reading, music, church activities, traveling with Jimmie, and spending time with his family.

Wesley was preceded in death by his parents, his aunt and uncle, his brother Bill, his wife Jimmie, and his niece Cathy. He is survived by his son, Stephen Dittlinger (Jackeline), daughter Carol Ann Ideker (Dwane), granddaughters Jamie Medellin (Isaac) and Stephany Dittlinger, great granddaughters Annabel and Ella Medellin, sister Janet Ragsdale, brother-in-law Dan Lee, and numerous nieces and nephews.

For the last 16 months Wesley has been cared for by his daughter-in-law Jackeline Rodriguez de Dittlinger and her daughter Jackeline Aguilar Rodriguez. Their sweet and caring attentiveness to his every need made Wesley know he was safe, secure, and loved. The family also appreciates the special care given to Wesley by his previous caregivers, Irma Maya, Irma Trevino, and Dee Rebai. Thanks go out as well to the wonderful nurses and staff at New Century Hospice and Lakeway Home Medical for making this journey much easier.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M., Saturday, January 2, 2016 at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M., Sunday, January 3, 2016 in the Chapel of Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home with Reverend Jeanne Devine of Berkeley United Methodist Church officiating. Interment will follow at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Memorial Park.

For those desiring, memorial contributions may be made in memory of Wesley to the Hornsby Cemetery or to Berkeley UMC.