Owen Thomas Ditchfield

Owen Thomas Ditchfield, 76, of Columbus, GA passed away Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at Gentiva Hospice. A celebration of his life will be held 6:30 PM Friday, June 17 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 1953 Torch Hill Rd., Columbus, GA 31903 The Funeral Mass will be held 12:00 pm Saturday, June 18th at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church with Father Nick Mansell officiating at both. A reception will follow the Saturday Funeral Mass in the church parish hall.

Mr. Ditchfield, son of the late Emer Patricia and Thomas Joseph Ditchfield, was born July 7, 1939 in Chicago, IL. He was raised in southern California and graduated from Saint Bernadine’s High School. Mr. Ditchfield attended school at the University of Montana with a major in journalism. That’s where he met his future wife, Mabel, and received a ROTC commission as an Infantry Officer. He and Mabel married in 1962. He came to Fort Benning in 1962 to attend Infantry Officer Basic Course, followed by Airborne and Ranger Schools.

He was in the Infantry for ten years and served two tours in Vietnam, receiving two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars. He faced certain death seven more times, but, by the grace of God, survived, leading him to believe God had more for him to do. He left the service in 1972 to become an elementary school teacher in the Fort Benning School System and retired in 2008. Mr. Ditchfield taught English at Don C. Faith Middle School, fifth-grade at Frank Lloyd Elementary School, and was a Media Specialist the final 21 years at Edward A. White Elementary School. Though retired, he continued to teach gardening there to second graders until a few weeks ago.

Mr. Ditchfield was the first volunteer to sign up at the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center, leading many tours of the museum. He was also the Polar Express Conductor there.

He was deeply involved in numerous civic organizations and campaigns in Columbus over the years to include Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation, Columbus South, Inc., South Columbus Concerned Citizens, CIRCLE (Mayor’s Sister City Program), Cool Our Kids Committee, Fair Tax Committee, Keep Columbus Beautiful, Columbus Beyond 2000, Curbside Recycling Task Force, Columbus Area Habitat for Humanity, where he helped build the first 50 homes, Chattahoochee Valley Bee Keepers’ Association, Columbus Library Board, Chattahoochee Regional Library Board and South Columbus Concerned Citizens. He was also very involved at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, co-leading the Folk Group, teaching high school CCD, lecturing at Mass, serving as a Eucharistic Minister, helping start the Men of Lourdes group and more.

Mr. Ditchfield was a 1996 Olympic Torch Bearer when it went through Columbus. In 2000, he was elected to a four-year term on the Muscogee County School Board. In 2006, Mr. Ditchfield was elected Educator of the Year by Keep Columbus Beautiful, and one of the three recipients of the LIBRA Award by Chattahoochee Area Library Association. In 2008, he was inducted into the Columbus State University College of Education’s Teacher Hall of Fame. He won two awards from Keep Columbus Beautiful for his environmental work including Educator of the Year and Individual Urban Forestry award. Mr. Ditchfield received the 2013 Rotary Club Dan Reed Award for service above self.

Mr. Ditchfield was a loving husband, father and grandfather survived by his wife of 53 years, Mabel Ditchfield of Columbus, GA and their four children Andrew (Susan), Brian (Tracy), Carol McCort (Dan) and Dora Ditchfield. Andrew lives in Detroit and writes automated software, Brian lives in Columbus, GA and is a Solution Specialist at Verizon. Carol and her family have lived in China for 22 years where her husband is in international business. Dora is the Director of Career Development at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. They have nine grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 1953 Torch Hill Rd., Columbus, GA 31903, MEEF (Muscogee Educational Excellence Association) at 214 A 10th Street, Columbus, GA 31901, or the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center at www.nationalinfantrymuseum.org.