Juanita “Joyce” (Hughes) Dietle, of Chelsea, MI, age 92, went home to be with her Lord Jesus Christ on Friday, September 29, 2023. She passed peacefully from natural causes in Canal Fulton, OH.
Joyce was born on November 20, 1930 in Dexter, MI. Growing up in Chelsea, her experience was rich in what people remember as the “old” Chelsea. This was an era when indoor plumbing, electricity, phones, and cars were a luxury! Joyce graduated from Chelsea High School located on Park Street in 1949. She was very involved in school, as she was on the basketball and tennis teams, and she loved journalism, French Club, and “sock hops” midday dances. It was all about bobbie socks and saddle shoes! High school choir and singing with her two besties, Joanne O’Dell and Mae Slane, these were some of her favorite memories.
She worked after school selling tickets at Chelsea’s Princess Theatre (now the Ugly Dog Distillery) and became good friends with the owners, the Wolverton’s. She loved to recall watching the epic film Gone With The Wind in this movie theater, where she also helped to sell war bonds/stamps in the movie line. She loved working at the Chelsea Drugstore (now Zou Zou’s Cafe), complete with a soda fountain with real cherry and vanilla cokes, and for a time she also worked at Chelsea State Bank. Joyce was an avid reader and had an extensive book collection and movie posters. She also loved collecting plates from all over the world.
Joyce married Marion L. “Diet” Dietle on April 7, 1950, and they raised their family in Chelsea. While her children were little, she had her own licensed “babysitting” business. Her other careers included working at Argus Camera in Ann Arbor, Higbee’s department store in Illinois, selling fine jewelry at Kaufman’s (Ohio) with her sister, Joan. Eventually she bought a business in Ohio in the 1980s, where she worked with her husband and sons before retiring to Florida in 1989. In 2001, she returned to Michigan to work at Chelsea’s first Dollar Store, where she worked with her good friend, Jill Seitz. Joyce loved her kids and grandkids, really all kids. She taught Sunday School for many years, and she also sang with church choirs at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Chelsea and Church of the Lakes in Canton, OH. She loved to travel internationally with her good friend, Arden Tuttle. She was also involved with the League of Women Voters of Michigan, the Child Study Club (also known as Modern Mothers), and the Rebekahs.
Joyce is survived by her children, Kirk (Melanie) Dietle of Massillon, OH, Leslie (Joe) Olivarez of Chelsea, and Lawrence (Jill) Dietle of Canton, OH; four grandchildren, Adam (Brenda) Hillman of Chelsea, Skye Hillman of Nashville, TN, and Chelsea and Leah Dietle of Canton, OH; one great-grandchild, Aubrey Hillman; her sisters, Jackie (Hughes) Lohrer of Harrison Twp, MI and Sharon (Slane) Fletcher of Grass Lake, MI; as well as many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Marion Dietle; her parents, Viola (Jones) Hughes and Stephen Slane; her sisters, Joan (Hughes) McDermitt, and Beverly (Hughes) Bishop, and a grandson, Dustin Dietle.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, October 12, 2023, 11:00 a.m., at Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Chelsea with Pastor Mark Hendricks officiating.
The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. as well as on Thursday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service.
She will be laid to rest with her husband at Oak Grove Cemetery in Chelsea.
Memorial contributions may be made to New Harvest Church or the Herbert J. McKune American Legion Post 31.
