Coetta May "Jo" Diller

Coetta was born to LeRoy and Gladys Packham on March 24, 1935, in Kansas City, Missouri. She was the oldest of three children and is now joined with her parents, brother, LeRoy; sister, Helen; and son, Johnnie.

Coetta graduated in 1953 from Manual High School and went on to continue her college education and certification in childcare. She married Dutch Wilkerson in 1954 and had an adorable son, Johnnie and married Don Clevenger in 1958 and added two wonderful daughters, Christina and Shelly. In 1982 she married Larry Diller (her silver fox) and added two wonderful daughters, Kimberly and Tiffany, all of which resulted in six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

She will always be known best by her daughters as “Mother Dear”, which she whole heartedly deserved and wore the title proudly. Her grandchildren will remember her as Mimi and will always remember her love, hugs, kisses, monthly cards in the mail, jokes, and playing cards and games with them. She loved to “spoil them rotten”.

Coetta and Larry were married 40 years and loved spending every moment of every day with each other as much as possible. When they weren’t playing cards and games with family and friends, they enjoyed visiting the casinos, fishing and embraced every moment they could spend with their children and grandchildren. Those who loved her, also loved her fudge, red velvet cake, and her famous homemade chicken noodle soup, which will never be forgotten by all of her of her family and friends whenever they were sick. If she heard anyone was sick, she quickly got it to them, and it’s been documented & proven to cure almost everything. She loved reading, crossword puzzles, game shows, and making those around her feel loved and happy. When she walked into a room the mood was lifted high!

Coetta is survived by her daughters, Christina (Ron) Heide, Shelly Alyea, Kimberly (Will) Rodriguez, and Tiffany (Brad) Archer; grandchildren, Ashley (Alex) Verseman, Kierstin, Jeremy, Kenton, Eliana, and Presley; her great grandchildren, Cole, Hadley, Tate, and Kira; in addition to her cousins, Corena and Paul; and several nieces & nephews.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Coetta's memory may be made to St. Labre Indian School, (112 St. Labre Campus Dr., Ashland City, MT 59003) https://www.stlabre.org/.

Serving as pallbearers are Ron Heide, Alex Verseman, Dale Thurston, Sam Sneed, Brad Archer and Gary Wright.