Fred Diehl

Frederick W. Diehl, of Haslett, MI, died on October 6, 2023, at the age of 82. A giant in joys and enthusiasms, he was known for his even temper, ready laugh, and his devotion to his family and students.

He is survived by his wife, Charlaine Ezell, step-daughter, Edrianne Ezell, and her wife, Andrea, of Illinois, and by his half-brother, Patrick (Liz) Diehl of North Carolina, and his half-sister Martha (Garth) Olson of Alaska and their children.

He was a captain in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War, serving as a navigator on a B-52 tanker, coordinating the refueling of fighter jets in midair. He spent another year guarding missiles in the Strategic Air Command.

Although he was born in rural Kansas, Fred, “Bud” to his family, spent his early years in Madrid, Nebraska, population 200, and in homes all over the world—Holland, California, Louisiana, San Antonio, and Tulsa. Whenever he could, he continued his schooling, earning his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. He worked various jobs while completing his studies—a customs inspector at the Dallas airport, a wheat farmer, the production clerk for an oil rig manufacturer. He worked as a mud engineer for his father’s independent oil production company. Fred worked for the Campbell Soup Company as head of maintenance engineering, which sometimes required crawling under vats of soup three stories high.

He liked his work in both the public and private sectors and was good at all of them, but Fred was a teacher in his soul. He was an enormously popular mathematics instructor at schools in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Portland, MI, and Sydney, Australia. He ended his teaching career when he retired from Lansing Catholic Central High School. His impassioned style so captivated and inspired his students that they often nominated him for Teacher of the Year, an honor he always refused.

He had been teaching in Tulsa when he decided to get his Master’s in Math Education, which meant a move to the University of Missouri, Columbia. The first day he was there,

he met Charlaine, who was working at the local library. He plotted a way to ask her for a date by challenging her to find every movie title starring John Wayne. His clever plan was foiled when she immediately took him to the reference shelf, showed him the right book, and opened it to the right page.

But he persisted, and they married in 1987 and began sharing a life with Edrianne in Lansing, MI. Together they learned new things, mastered new skills, and understood their lives on earth more deeply. They enjoyed studying native wildflowers and planting gardens full of them, trying ethnic cuisines, especially Chinese and Thai, and joining the vintners’ guild and sampling fine wines. They travelled railroad routes across the Midwest, talking to engineers and conductors, passengers and railroad museum workers and made lifelong friends with many of them.

Probably the most fulfilling enthusiasm Fred and Char shared was an interest in quilts. They would take weekend road trips to quilt shops throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Together they designed and made nearly 150 quilts of various patterns. They sold quilts and donated the proceeds to St. Vincent’s Catholic Charities/Refugee Services, raising money for refugees from Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

Fred was always deeply spiritual, finding his way to the perfectibility of the soul through a spiritual movement called ECKankar. Charlaine was Catholic, but they saw their lives on earth as an adventure, a chance to experience an enlightened eternity, and an introduction to the perfect spiritual life. Through their quilts, their gardens, and their love for their family, they felt they were both teachers and learners. Death would not be a finality but a beginning, a move into a new spiritual life. Fred believed in the light and sound of God, and on October 6, 2023, after a lengthy illness, he moved toward the light.

There are no plans for a memorial service at this time. If you wish to make a donation in Fred’s memory, please offer it to ECKankar (P.O. Box 2000, Chanhassen, MN, 55317-2000) or St. Vincent’s Catholic Charities/Refugee Services (2800 W. Willow St., Lansing, MI 48917).