Theodore E Dietz

Theodore(Ted) Espe Dietz died on May 25th, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 18th, 1942 to Robert Edwin Dietz III of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Ann Augusta Dietz (nee Espe) of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He grew up on the family farm along the banks of the Rio Grande, enthusiastically immersing himself in the resident animal husbandry of the family, becoming a semi-regular award winner at the state fair for his sheep stock, and generally developing into a true cowwwwbooyy, an occupation whose responsibilities included the terrorizing of the local rodent populations and quite frequently his sister as well. At the age of 14, he followed his brother east to Governor Dummar Academy to complete his high school education. There he excelled in wrestling, lacrosse and Latin, which was of course ideal preparation for gladiatorial combat in the Roman Colosseum. Upon graduation, he enrolled in Cornell University, receiving a degree from the Agriculture and Life Sciences School in the spring of 1965. From there, he married his first wife, Kathryn Schuette, and moved to Chicago to work for the family company. By the summer of 1966, he felt the call to serve his country in the fight against the communist threat in southeast Asia, which he answered by spending 6 years marginally improving the agriculture practices of the indigenous Bolivian population in an around Lake Titicaca under the auspices of the Peace Corps. After having completely missed out on the 60’s and watched Neil Armstrong take his giant leap with some extremely incredulous locals on the Alte Plano, Ted returned to the US in 1971. In an extremely serendipitous and unlikely series of events that resulted in a dinner invitation being extended to one Martha Helen Bell, he met his second wife at his parents’ front door. He and Martha were married in September of 1972, and proceeded to have two children, Zachariah, born in [month decorously redacted] 1973, and Maya, born in May of 1975. Martha and Ted spent the first few years of their marriage bouncing between the two coasts: first in Philadelphia, and then in Riverside, CA, before settling in Hamilton NY, in the summer of 1978. He and Martha raised their kids in Hamilton, with Martha working for Colgate University and Ted working for the State of NY as a director of a community home for the handicapped. In Hamilton, Ted strove to shape the community toward his vision of a better future, being heavily involved in local politics, writing for the local newspaper, and advocating for the institutions he valued, including but not limited to those that served his children’s interests. He retired from the State of NY in 2000, after which he followed his wife out to Seattle, WA, where he enjoyed the fruits of having married well. Unfortunately, his wife predeceased him in 2014, and he spent his remaining years in a more itinerant life, moving between children, and so ended up residing in St. Louis, Missouri, Rochester, NY, and Wyoming, Ohio over the last years of his life. He is survived by two siblings, Robert Edwin Dietz IV, Ethelinda Dietz, his two children and his 5 grandchildren, Myrtle, Gertie, Azalea, Gazelle, and Zephie.

He was a decent man and a good parent, qualities that his kids have found not to be as easy to live up to as imagined. He will be missed.