Joan Elizabeth Dietrich

Joan was born December 14, 1943 to parents Robert & Edith "Honey" Birmingham. She was born in San Francisco, California, and raised in a Catholic family. She also lived in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas until she reached her final stop in San Diego, California. Always sporting a smile, Joan had a way of making everyone feel special.

Being the oldest of seven, Joan helped care for her younger siblings. She had three younger brothers; Robert Jr.,"Butch", Steve, and Dan, and three younger sisters; Donna, Vicki, and Shauna. Throughout her life, she maintained a close bond with her siblings, and they all had nicknames such as "Butch", or "Stanley", or "Richard", or "Louise", and Joan was given the nickname "Bones". Her love for her siblings at a young age surely helped her develop the love for a big family, which is definitely what she ended up with.

All throughout her life, Joan loved telling stories about her childhood. She spoke of times when she would eat biscuits at her grandma's house, when she would sneak off to Ocean Beach at night with her friends, and even when she met her high school sweetheart at age 15. Despite moving throughout the U.S. during her childhood and teen years, she graduated from San Diego High School in 1962 and went on to attend beauty school.

Joan was a very easy person to love and become friends with. While growing up, her best friend was Marylyn Trenz, and later in life, she became great friends with Sharon Gordon, who soon ended up being part of the family. Later down the road, she met her neighbor Angie, whom she shared many books, laughs, and memories with.

On January 5, 1963 Joan exchanged wedding vows with James "Jimmy" or "Jim Bob" Dietrich at the First Church of God of San Diego, California. During their 54 years together, love blossomed, lives were created, laughs were had, and memories were forever made.

Over time, Joan was blessed with three sons, Mark, David, and Eric. While raising them, she was a member of the PTA, and a proud little league team mother. Later on in life, she was also blessed with five grandchildren, Leanne, Alexis, Jamie, Katie, Hannah, and 3 great grandchildren, Mya, Mylee, and Jackson. Due to the fact that she had such a big family, names would get mixed up, so she added two invisible members of the bunch whom she called Sam and George.

A dedicated employee, she was committed to her work. Her primary occupation was in retail sales, where she was employed for 30 years at Sears Roebuck & Co., and then for 10 years at Rite-Aid where she worked as a GNC specialist..

After her retirement, Joan had plenty of time for leisure, however, she decided to dedicate her time to family and her grandchildren. Every summer she would take all of her granddaughters on trips to Torrey Pines State Beach, every Christmas, she would bake Christmas cookies, build gingerbread houses, and take the grand-kids to see the lights, and every birthday, everyone would look forward to getting a phone call and hearing her sing "Happy happy birthday, Baby". In her alone time, she enjoyed reading, watching the cooking channel, gardening, listening to music, and baking.

Travel and vacations were experiences that Joan truly loved. In her words, she would say that "Her get up and go has got up and went", and in this case, she has gone many places. Joan is proud to have gone to places such as Niagara Falls, Kauai, and Lake Tahoe. More recently, she was able to travel to New Orleans, and Ireland. When she chose to stay closer to home, she liked to visit the Kern River and Borrego Springs. Travel is just one of the things that made her life that much more special.

Joan passed away on February 3, 2017 at home in Santee. She fought a brave battle against cancer for three years. She is survived by her husband, Jim, her children Mark, David, Eric, daughter-in-laws, Terri, Kristen and Elena. Her siblings, Donna, Steve, Dan, Vicki, and Shauna. Grand daughters, Leanne, Alexis, Jamie, Katie, and Hannah. Great-granddaughters Mya and Mylee, and her great-grandson Jackson.

Joan was the kind of person who could brighten up a room. You could always count on her for a laugh whether it be from one of her many jingles that she would come up with on the spot, or whether it be from one of her countless stories that she would tell. She was determined to make everyone that came into her life happy, and she succeeded, which is why she is so loved. Joan has mentioned countless times that instead of tears in the event of her passing, that she would like everyone to take a shot of Jack Daniels in her honor, which is just one more example of how she brought humor to every situation. Joan will forever be remembered as a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, and friend to all who knew her. Her smile and bright personality will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.

Services were held at El Cajon Mortuary. Joan was laid to rest in El Camino Memorial Park in San Diego, CA.