Burton "Burt" Henry Dietz

Burton Henry Dietz, Sr., 94, of Raleigh, North Carolina died on October 7, 2024 in the loving company of his beautiful wife, children, grandchildren and gracious Episcopal Reverend Imogen Rhodenhiser. He was born on January 2, 1930 to Walter Adolph Dietz and Precious Loretta Johnson Dietz at home on Main Street in Sanborn, Minnesota. He was the youngest of eight siblings and a twin.

Growing up in Sanborn he worked in his father’s store, The Dietz General Store, from early in the morning before school candling eggs and returning after school fulfilling orders. He graduated from Sanborn High School in 1948. He continued his education at Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota graduating in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Economics.

After college he enlisted in the United States Marine Corp Officer Candidates School and subsequently USMC Flight School. He was crossed trained to fly a variety of aircraft from cargo planes, “single engine flat winged” planes to helicopters. His second love in life after his wife was flying helicopters with the window open and the breeze in his face.

While in the Marine Corp. he was asked to fly to Cape Canaveral to pilot the helicopter for lifting a replica of the Apollo capsule. The purpose of the detail was to see if the capsule could be lifted via helicopter, if it could not be lifted off the tarmac then there would be no chance it could be lifted out of the water. When asked if he had a certificate or some sort of accolade from such a historic moment, he replied, “No, I was just doing my job”.

In addition, while stationed off the coast of Greece he trained United States Navy jet fighter pilots to fly helicopters off the aircraft carrier. He tells the tale of a fighter pilot jock from Texas he was training and he would make the comment to Burton when he would grab the steering stick “cyclic stick” correcting “bad behavior”, “Burt, you never let us have any fun”. One day this same Texan took off the carrier in a steep swing “hot rodding it” Burt said they came so close to crashing into the sea you could feel the spray from water on your face. Burton grabbed the cyclic stick and pulled them up and out, needless to say that Texan never said another word to Burton about “having fun”.

He loved flying so much we inquired why he did not fly commercial after the USMC he said, “I cannot think of anything more boring than flying by instruments, I want to see and move along the terrain.” After Service he entered the Reserves and was honorably discharged in 1963 with the rank of Major.

During his time in the United States Marine Corp. he met the love of his life Elizabeth Jane Ingram Buxton. After much courting and traveling from Minnesota to South Carolina Burton telephoned Elizabeth and said, “Will you marry me?” Elizabeth replied, “But, Burt you have not said you love me” He replied, “If I did not love you I would not ask you to marry me”. On July 1, 1961 they were married and to this day they are a wonderful example of pure enduring love that so few of us see in our lifetime. He said the best thing that ever happen to him was marrying her. He called her “my beauty” and they still held hands when walking together after 63 years of marriage.

While in United States Marine Corp. Reserves he worked for Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He then ventured off to Dallas, Texas doing research for Owens-Illinois Glass Company which subsequently took his family to Toledo, Ohio, Birmingham, Alabama and Hartford, Connecticut. After Owen-Illinois he and his family packed up two households one in Hartford and one in Birmingham and moved to Sumter, SC to work for Williams Furniture Company. After learning the furniture industry in Sumter he and his family moved one more time to Raleigh, North Carolina. While living in Raleigh he continued to work for Williams Furniture managing a territory consisting of Eastern North Carolina and Southeastern Virginia.

In Raleigh he established a warm and loving home for his growing family and built deep and lasting relationships with his friends, community and church. He volunteered and was a strong supporter of the North Carolina Symphony and North Carolina GOP. He volunteered with the Meal on Wheels-Wake County Program. He was a member of The Church of the Good Shepherd for 57 years (1967). He was very involved with his church from teaching Sunday school to the younger children, a lay reader, usher and maintaining the church grounds. Before the internet made the scene, he and his wife spearheaded the program of recording all Sunday services at The Church of the Good Shepherd, making duplicate tapes and getting them to parishioners who were unable to attend services in person. He was also a member of the American Legion Post 286 in Sanborn, Minnesota.

He loved big band and classical music. In his 60’s he taught himself how to play the piano with stickers on the keys and of course a little help from his wife. His most loved song, and the only song he learned how to play, was Claire De Lune by Claude DeBussy. He was a voracious reader of political books, listening to political programs on the radio (sometimes it felt like Rush Limbaugh was living in our house from 1988 to 2021) and an avid watcher of Fox News. He loved bird watching from his Florida room and making sure the feeding stations were always full with seed and suet. When the opportunity arose at weddings or other events he loved to dance. He would tell stories of hitching a ride with his twin sister and friends to the neighboring town of Springfield or Sleepy Eye to cut a rug at the local dance hall. He was a very spiritual man. He was a kind, gentle, loving, an incredibly patient man and when life got a little messy he would school you in life lessons. He loved God, his wife, family and friends, flying and pie.

Burton is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Buxton Dietz, his children Burton Henry Dietz, Jr. (Robin Cameron Dietz) of Longmeadow, Massachusetts and Paisley Dietz Ward (Richard Kermit Ward) of New Bern, NC and his grandchildren Richard Buxton Ward, Cameron Julian Dietz, Eliza Paisley Witherspoon Ward and Ella Katherine Dietz.

He was predeceased in death by his parents, Walter Adolph Dietz and Precious Loretta Johnson Dietz, his sisters, Ramona Peterson (Pete), Ruth McCrary (Dick), Bernice Engeswick (Russell), Clementine Schroeder (Robert), Charlotte Starken (Leander) and twin sister Roberta Dietz Ihnen (Gilbert) and his big brother, Wayne Walter Dietz (Elizabeth).

A visitation will be held on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh. A memorial service will take place on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at 2:00 PM at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 121 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh. A reception will follow the service in Shepherd's Hall.

Gifts in Loving Memory of Burton Henry Dietz, Sr. may be made to: The Church of the Good Shepherd, 121 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27603; The North Carolina Symphony, 3700 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 130, Raleigh, NC 27612; or The American Legion Post 286, PO Box 162 Sanborn, MN 56083.

Services provided by Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh.