William Gale Dietrich

intensely loyal, kind, intelligent and generous person, he was born on March 6, 1925,

at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, the fourth son of Gale Galbaugh

Gossett Dietrich and Roy Kaiser Dietrich. His grandparents were Maggie Kaiser

Dietrich and David Dietrich, and Daisy Vera Galbaugh Gossett and Alfred Newton

“Danny” Gossett. Bill was elected Phi Beta Kappa and received his B.A. from Yale

University (‘45W) and his LLB from Yale Law School (’51). He was a lieutenant in the

Army Signal Corps in World War II, and was assigned to General MacArthur's staff at

Manila as part of the “Eyes Only” intelligence corps. He was on shipboard heading to

Japan when peace was declared.

Having married his high school sweetheart Marjorie Reich in 1945, Bill returned to Kansas City in 1951, where he started his career as a trial lawyer at his father’s firm,

Gossett, Ellis, Dietrich & Tyler, becoming the youngest person to be a partner in the

firm. Shortly thereafter, he joined with his father-in-law Walter August Reich in the

creation of the Blue Ridge Mall Shopping Center, one of the first central-mall

shopping centers in the United States. A certified CSM, he served as General

Manager of “The Mall” until it was sold in 1973. He then continued his career in law,

specializing in Estate and Real Estate law. He served on the Board of Directors of

Blue Ridge Bank and Trust Co., A. Reich & Sons, Inc., and A. Reich & Sons Gardens.

Bill was extremely active as a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary Club 13, having served as

Chair of Project 50 of the Rotary Club of Kansas City and as treasurer of Rotary Youth

Camp for many years. He was also a past member and past State Director of the

International Council of Shopping Centers. He was past Chairman and longtime board

member of Research Medical Center and Health Midwest, as well as past Treasurer

and longtime vestry member of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral. Memberships

include the American Bar Association, the Kansas City Bar Association, and the

Lawyers’ Association of Kansas City. Bill was a lifelong member of Mission Hills

Country Club, the University Club, and the Kansas City Club.

A fourth-generation Kansas Citian, married to a sixth-generation Kansas Citian, he was compelled by the history of Kansas City and Jackson County. Next to Bill’s love

and devotion to his family, his greatest joys were his summers spent on his

grandfather’s farm near Independence; and in later years time spent on Maui, at the

family ranch near Estes Park, Colorado, and at his farm in Lee’s Summit. He loved

sharing with his children and grandchildren the stories of the constellations and

astronomy, which he had learned from his grandfather, Danny. Wearing a cowboy

hat, deerskin gloves and Bowie knife whenever he was at the family ranch in

Colorado, he transformed into a cowboy, playing his steel-string guitar at a cookout

and leading all in campfire songs. Back in Missouri, he was equally at home on his

John Deere tractor planting young apple trees at his farm in Lee’s Summit. He loved

investing in and holding real estate, and firmly believed in “walking the perimeter.”

Bill is survived by the love of his life, his wife of over 70 years, Marjorie Reich Dietrich (whom he started dating at age 15, courting her by riding his pony bareback from the family farm near Independence, Missouri to her home on Blue Ridge Boulevard). Other survivors are their children, Meredith Gale Steinhaus; Ann Elizabeth Coolingand James E. Cooling; and Walter Reich Dietrich and Sheila Kemper Dietrich; their grandchildren, Daniel and Anne Steinhaus, Joel and Sarah Steinhaus, Michael and

Sloan Steinhaus, Sara and Andrew Trucksess, Lisa and Michael Lane, Catherine and

Steven Davis, James Cooling, August Dietrich, Andrew Dietrich, and Cynthia and Earl

Gleason, and 10 great-grandchildren. The family expresses its immense gratitude for

the tireless caregiving, particularly by Sarah Crutchfield, and a very special few

generous souls, who were loved by Bill as his own at the end of his life.

Funeral services will be held at 1 pm, Sunday, December 13, 2015, with

Visitation at 12 noon, in Founders’ Hall at Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral, 415 West

13th Street, followed by private graveside services for the family. The family suggests

contributions to Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral, Research College of Nursing, or the

Missouri Department of Conservation in lieu of flowers.