John W. Dieken

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Military Service
Branch: U.S. Marines
Enlisted:

Civil Service
Dallas, Texas, Police Force

Personal Details
Born: 26 February 1902
Died: 10 August 1935
Parents: John and Mary (Lingelbach) Dieken
Spouse: Margaret Smith

Buried: Colfax Center Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Colfax Township, Grundy County, Iowa

Dallas Paper Gives Account of Fatal Accident

John Dieken's sudden death while on duty was a severe shock to those with whom he had served in Dallas as it was to his relatives and to his many friends in Grundy county.

The following account of the accident appeared in one of the daily papers published in Dallas:

"Last call for Motorcycle Policeman J. W. Dieken, 34, was broadcast at 4:24 p.m. Saturday by dispatcher Max Moore. For one minute officers throughout the city stood silent. Into the official radio log went the listing, 'Officer Dieken's last call.'

"Officer Dieken died at 4:15 p.m. at Baylor Hospital of injuries received Friday afternoon when his motorcycle and an automobile collided at Parry and Fletcher and caught fire. He never regained consciousness after the accident.

"A few blocks away in St. Paul Hospital at the time was Mrs. Dieken with the couple's 2-day-old son, Jack Willis Dieken. It fell to the lot of Police Inspector J. M. Welch to deliver the ill news. Hospital attendants reported that she took the blow in good condition.

Insurance for His Baby
To safeguard his new-born son, Officer Dieken, Friday, some few hours before he began his fatal ride, took out an insurance policy in the baby's favor, fellow officers say. The new insurance is carried along with his regular policy and is to the amount of $1,000, they said.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dieken had been married for a little more than a year and made their home at 821 Pavilion. Fellow officers time his service at one year, one month and a day on Saturday. His former home is in Iowa. Relatives in that state were notified of the tragedy and were reported en route to Dallas.

"The officer, who was also a former member of the United States Marine Corps, is the county's seventy-fifth traffic fatality for the year. Thirty-eight of these deaths have occurred on the city's streets and thirty-seven on the highways.

Third Fatality
"Dieken is the third motorcycle patrolman to meet his death in line of duty since Christmas. At the time of the collision Dieken was speeding toward a three-alarm fire in the Gaston avenue-Abrams road business district. First of the three police fatalities was J. E. Griffin, who died Dec. 26 from injuries received in an accident on Commerce street. E. E. Leonard was fatally injured several months ago while chasing an unidentified speeder in Oak Cliff.

"Officer Dieken was astride the same motor that Leonard was riding when he received his fatal injuries. The vehicle's number at the time of Leonard's accident was 13, but was changed afterward to 21. The machine will now probably be dismantled, officials said.

"Dieken's body is being held at MiKamy-Campbell Funeral Home, where it will be under police guard until the arrival of his brothers from Iowa. Whether services will be in Dallas or the body be sent to Iowa, fellow officers will form an escort as a last tribute."

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 15 August 1935, pg 12

A Tribute From Those Whom He Served

City of Dallas, Texas

To the Members of the Immediate Family of John W. Dieken:

About fourteen months ago John W. Dieken came into our police department through civil service regulation. He was selected through this department for his high rating on this examination and also for his reputation as an upright and honest citizen. We have found him at all times endeavoring to maintain this reputation. John has been a good and efficient officer, always ready to take and put in effect all orders given him by his superior officers. He was a man who always met every obligation placed upon him with a smile and at all times treating everyone with whom he came in contact with the highest degree of courtesy and respect. Through these methods he has acquired many friends among the citizens of Dallas and has won the love and respect of every officer in this entire department.

He has been under my personal supervision the entire time since he has been in the department and I can truthfully say that I have at all times found him to be a gentleman in every respect and an officer who was willing to go the limit of his ability to perform his duty. We feel that through the loss of this man we have lost one of our most efficient and trustworthy officers.

We wish to extend to his entire family our deepest sympathy in the loss of this good man and we believe that our loss is his gain. We wish especially to extend our sympathy to his good wife who is lingering in the hospital and wish her an early recovery and every success in the rearing of her son.

J. M. Welch, Inspector of Police.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 15 August 1935, pg 1