Dale L. Deditch
July 20, 1920-April 23, 2006
Dale L. Deditch, 85, of Gene's Circle, Niles, Michigan, and Paradise Trails, Carp Lake, Michigan, died at 9:25 p.m. Sunday, April 23, 2006, in Hospice of the Straits, Cheboygan, Michigan, due to a brief illness.
Mr. Deditch was born on July 20, 1920, in Flint, Michigan, the son of Henry and Claudine (Home) Deditch. A builder with his father, Henry, Dale also was one of the original agents with Wolverine Insurance Company of Dowagiac. For 30 years he served the Niles Community as a realtor in the Deditch Real Estate Company. In 1974 he moved to Carp Lake.
Following his 1939 graduation from Niles High School, Mr. Deditch attained the rank of master sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps. During W.W.II, he was stationed in Manchester, England, as a radio operator, airielo with the Fifth Transport and 10th Air Deposit Squadrons. After 11 years of dedicated service, Dale retired from the military in 1952.
Active in the Barron Lake and Howard Township areas, Mr. Deditch was one of the founding trustees of what is now the governing body of Howard Township. For 30 years, he was a member of the National Association of Realtors. In addition to his memberships with the Veterans of Foreign Wars of Mackinac, he also was a member of the Church of the Straits as well as the First Presbyterian Church of Niles.
On February 7, 1942, in Niles, Dale married Vera L. (Asmus) Deditch, who died August 30, 1995. Also preceding him in death were his son, Mark L., who died January 26, 2005, and a grandson, Jonathon, who died November 15, 1994.
Surviving family include a son, Dale L. (Mary) Deditch of Niles, Michigan; one granddaughter, Nichole (Andrew) Dohm of Edwardsburg, Michigan; and a great-grandson, Andrew J. Dohm. Mr. Deditch's sister, Micky Fjetland of Norcross, Georgia, and a niece and friend, Lynn (Charles) Kruhlik of Wolverine, Michigan, also survive.
Funeral services for Dale L. Deditch will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 27, 2006, in the First Presbyterian Church in Niles, with the Rev. Dr. Ronald Wakeman officiating. Following a military flag presentation by American Legion Post #26, burial will be at Silverbrook Cemetery. The family will receive friends in the Halbritter Funeral Home today from 5 to 7 p.m.
Contributions in memory of Mr. Deditch may be made to either Hospice of the Straits, 722 South Street, Cheboygan, MI 49721; or to the Howard Township Fire Department, 2681 E. Detroit Road, Niles, MI 49120.
Submitted by family member; publication details unknown