DINGER, Lauraine (nee Miles) 1909-2003

DINGER, MILES, WILDMAN

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 2/14/2009 at 09:46:10

RICEVILLE, IOWA — Lauraine Miles Dinger, 94, of Riceville, passed away Wednesday (Dec. 24, 2003) at the Riceville Community Rest Home from complications of a series of strokes.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Riceville, with the Rev. Gale Richards officiating. Private inurnment will take place at Riverside Cemetery in Riceville.

Lauraine was born May 22, 1909, on a farm northeast of Riceville, to William and Estella (Wildman) Miles. She attended rural school and graduated from Riceville High School in 1926. She graduated with honors from Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls in 1930, with a B.A. degree in French.

Lauraine spent her early years of teaching in Riceville, Lime Springs, Ida Grove and Clinton High Schools. During World War II, she moved to Chicago and was employed at the First National Bank as a reviewer of trust accounts. It was the job she loved the most out of her varied professional career.

On June 3, 1944, she married Lyle Dinger, a Navy Seabee in Denver, Colorado. After their honeymoon, Lauraine returned to Chicago and Lyle shipped out to the Pacific Theater for the next 15 months. At the end of the war, they settled in Riceville, where they happily spent the rest of their years. In 1964, she returned to teaching and taught at Riceville High School until 1975. Lauraine was a devoted wife and mother and created a loving and nurturing home.

Lauraine was a faithful member of the First Congregational Church, the Golden Rule Circle, and the Riceville Garden Club. She was a charter member of the Cedar Valley Retired Teachers Association.

She loved to cook and had a passion for reading. She read several books a week until she was 90. She took many wonderful family trips over the years and enjoyed visiting her children as they moved around the world.

Lauraine was the only mother in the U.S. history to have two sons rise through the ranks of the State Department to become U.S. Ambassadors.

She was a person filled with gratitude and often said, “I have had a wonderful life.” She was always there for her family and will be dearly missed.

Lauraine is survived by her children, Ambassador Larry (Paula) Dinger of Kolonia, Pohnpei, Micronesia, Jan (Rev. Daniel) Duggan, of La Crescent, Minn., Ambassador John (Michael) Dinger, of Washington, D.C., and a stepson, Glenn (Elizabeth) Dinger, of Riceville. Her grandchildren are Cristina, James, and William Dinger, Joshua, Whitney and Andrew Duggan, and Tai Dinger. She has four stepgrandchildren, Beth Dinger, Brenda Singelstad, Paul Dinger, and Susan Swancutt; and four stepgreat-grandchildren.

Lauraine was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Donald and Manley Miles; an infant daughter, Peggy; and her husband, Lyle, in 1986.

Lindstrom Funeral Home in Riceville is in charge of arrangements -- (641) 985-2242.

[Mason City Globe Gazette, Dec. 26, 2003]