Anne Dietzel

Anne Wilson Dietzel, age 96, peacefully went home to be with the Lord Jesus on Thursday, September 10, 2020 with family near. She was born in Mansfield Ohio on December 11, 1923.

Anne married her high school sweetheart, Paul Franklin Dietzel, on September 25, 1944 during WWII while Paul was at Smyrna Army Air Base in Tennessee for training as a B-29 bomber pilot. Throughout high school and even college days, the Dietzels were the American dream couple as Paul was a star football player and Anne a vibrant and high-spirited and energetic cheerleader. During WWII the Dietzels spent much of their time living in a duplex on a military base with their lifetime friends and adopted family Art and June Goldner of Oxford, Ohio. Each of their roots go back to Ohio where they attended Miami of Ohio, known as the Cradle of Coaches.

Anne embraced her role as the loving and supportive wife of Coach Paul Dietzel as she too loved the world of football. Whether she was preparing flower arrangements for the marriages and families of cadets at the West Point Chapel or preparing home dinners for the football players at South Carolina and LSU, she was always serving alongside her husband of 70 years.

Anne loved people and was a grand hostess. She enjoyed playing her baby grand piano as well as singing in the church choir in her younger years. She always supported others in times of need. Anne was a wonderful conversationalist and could talk football all day. She loved dancing to the old big band music. She was an avid and accomplished golfer for many years, well into her late 60s. Family and friends will always remember her expression “be there, be there, be there” as she spoke to the card deck asking it to deliver her next anticipated wild card in the rummy game known as Shanghai.  Anne always looked forward to another game of bridge with family and friends or knitting with her knitting group. In her earlier years, she enjoyed working with ceramics produced in her own personal kiln at home as well as having her own store, Crafty Anne’s, craft and gift shops in both Columbia, SC and in Baton Rouge, LA.

Anne is preceded in death by her husband Coach Paul F. Dietzel, her parents Katherine Wirtz Wilson and Luther Wilson of Mansfield, OH, her brother Tom Wilson of Falls Church, VA, and son-in-law Dale DuTremble of Charleston, SC.

Anne was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Anne leaves behind her children, daughter Kathie Dietzel DuTremble of Charleston, SC, and son Stephen Paul Dietzel and wife Judy Dietzel of Baton Rouge, LA; her grandchildren, David DuTremble and wife Shawnee of Charleston, SC and Paul Dietzel II and wife Shelby of Baton Rouge, LA; four great grandchildren; niece Barbara Wilson Woodard of Brookeville, MD; godchild Tim Goldner from Oxford, OH; and countless athletes over many decades that Anne and Coach considered their own.

Thank you to the wonderful people at Amber Terrace Assisted Living who took great care of Anne the last two years, especially Jackie and Diana. Thank you to the Rings and Ivy Sunday School class at First United Methodist Church of Baton Rouge for their love and support of Anne and Paul through the years as well as Anne’s dear friends who visited her regularly before Covid. Thank you to the kind nurses at The Hospice of Baton Rouge with special thanks to Tiffany.

Immediate family will hold a private graveside service on Monday, September 14, 2020 at Resthaven Funeral Home and Gardens of Memory as they lay their precious “Nana” to rest.

Family and friends may sign the online guestbook or leave a personal note to the family at www.resthavenbatonrouge.com. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to a charity of your choice.