Violet Ellen Diehl 1923-2011

DIEHL LINDSTEDT BRELAND

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/18/2012 at 21:41:37

Sioux City Journal
September 01, 2011

SIOUX CITY -- Violet Ellen Diehl, 88, of Tooele, Utah, formerly of Sioux City, found the light for her path on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011. She passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family from causes related to Alzheimer's.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Tate Mortuary Chapel, 110 S. Main St., Tooele. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

She was born May 13, 1923, in Wessington Springs, S.D., to Bert and Rachel (Lindstedt) Breland. On July 11, 1923, she was received into God's Kingdom of Grace through the washing of Holy Baptism at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Wessington Springs. She repeated her baptismal vows in the Rite of Confirmation in May 1937 at First Lutheran Church, Mitchell, S.D.

Violet graduated from Central High School, Sioux City. She also attended Morningside College in Sioux City and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in liberal studies.

She married Ormand I. Gooch of Ada, Okla., on March 23, 1946, in First Lutheran Church, Sioux City. He died in September 1978. On July 12, 1986, Violet married George W. Diehl in Redeemer Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, Nev.

For more than 50 years, Violet was an active member of First Lutheran Church, Tooele, where she taught Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, was in the Altar Guild and was a member of and held offices in the Lutheran Women Missionary League (LWML) at the local, zone and district levels.

Violet's civil service career from 1946 to 1981 included civilian personnel functions at Tooele Army Depot, Tooele, and at the Southern European Task Force (SETAF) in Vicenza, Italy, during a three-year assignment, from 1975 to 1978.

After her retirement in 1981, she was active in civic and volunteer work. She was proud to have been elected to the Tooele City Council in 1983, and served until 1986. She also served as a member and chairperson for Tooele County Council of Aging, Utah State Division of Aging & Adult Services. She was also a member and officer of the Tooele Bit and Spur Club, Business and Professional Women, Beta Sigma Phi and was active in the auxiliary of the Tooele Elks and Eagles lodges.

Violet is survived by her husband, George W. Diehl; one sister, Vivian Fox of Sioux City; a special niece, Dee Suddeth of Sun City, Calif.; and Dee's family. She is also survived by four children (through marriage) and their spouses, Paul Diehl (Diane), Ronald Diehl (Connie), Tina Moerer (Michael), and Martha Burbidge (Gary); seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers; and two grandchildren.

A special thanks to Neighborhood House, Cottonwood, Maureen Burbidge at Rocky Mountain Hospice and Dr. Carol Baraldi, University of Utah Geriatric Clinic, for their loving care of Violet.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Concordia Lutheran High School, Salt Lake City.

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." -- Psalms 119:105