Della Dietrich

Della Lucille Dietrich, 94, passed away peacefully on November 24, 2025, at her home in Arlington after a short stroke-related illness. She had been on hospice at home since mid-June.

Della was born on September 5, 1931, in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, the sixth of seven children. She attended Sacred Heart Catholic School and later, Jeannette High School, where she played the glockenspiel in the marching band.

In 1951, she married the love of her life, Frank W. Dietrich, also of Jeannette. The following year, the young couple moved to Texas, which as a growing region they believed would offer better economic opportunities and quality of life. Della immediately began a job with Vought Aircraft, later LTV, where she enjoyed a 15-year career in public relations.

During her career in the aerospace industry, she met many noteworthy individuals, including U.S. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, as well as all seven original Project Mercury astronauts. In one memorable incident, she appeared on the front page of The Dallas Morning News jumping out of a cake while dressed as a Martian to present a charitable contribution on behalf of LTV to the Community Chest. She often joked that the job fell to her because she was the only one small enough to fit into the cake that had been built.

In 1967 her only son John was born, and Della retired from LTV to begin a new career as a homemaker and mother. She participated in many community and church organizations, especially at her church, St. Maria Goretti in Arlington, where she was active in the Altar Society, Leisure Club, and in the early 1990s was named Church Woman of the Year.

Della loved music and dancing in all forms, and she passed that love of music on to her son, John, by becoming his first piano teacher at the age of four. She was an avid baker and very much looked forward to the month of December, when she would spend nearly every day baking a different treat in preparation for Christmas. She was extremely fond of animals, particularly dogs — and especially dachshunds.

Della was preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, Frank William Dietrich; her parents, Earl Vincent Egler and Della Reichert Egler of Jeannette; two brothers, Earl Vincent Egler, Jr., and Robert Francis Egler; and three sisters, Mary Louise Soles, Rita Grace Uhrin, and Elizabeth Jane Beck.

She is survived by her son, John Eric Dietrich of Arlington, Texas; her younger brother Regis Egler (Mary) of Jeannette; and 12 nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, December 3, at 11 a.m. at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, 1200 S. Davis Dr, in Arlington. A graveside service will take place at 2 p.m. that afternoon at Moore Memorial Gardens, 1219 N. Davis Dr., in Arlington.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Della’s name may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org.