Ruth Elfriede Meta Dietrich

Ruth M. Dietrich WERNAU, Germany - Ruth Elfriede Meta Dietrich, 92, died in her sleep on the morning of Jan. 22, 2009, at St. Lukas Pflegeheim, Wernau, Germany. Born Oct. 1, 1916, in Glogau, Silesia, she was the daughter of Herbert and Meta Jahrisch and the much-loved widow of Karl Friedrich Dietrich. She had a giant spirit inside a small, elegant frame. Her courtesy and grace were of the old-world kind and she possessed a fine intellect spiced with an undiminished curiosity for the world around her. An appetite for adventure took her to India where she rode elephants, to Egypt and the pyramids and Bali and even the Pentagon where she charmed an admiral. She was fluent in several languages, switching flawlessly to the end of her life between English, French and German. The Comedian Harmonists remained her favorite pop group, and she once had a collection of all their recordings. She loved her garden. A son, Rainer Guenter-Karl Dietrich predeceased her. She is survived by a son, retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Eric Juergen-Carl Dietrich-Berryman, Ph.D., (Roberta) of Berlin and Virginia Beach; her brother, former Obermaat (U-256/U-773) Guenter Herbert Jahrisch (Lieselotte) of Wendlingen; granddaughters, Daniela Haller (Ingo) of Stuttgart, Carmen Schurr (Joachim) of Goppingen, Lillian Diamond and Stefanie Michaels of Albuquerque, Kim Berryman of San Diego; and great-grandchildren, Dayna, Lars, Max, Sarah and a yet-unborn girl awaited in March. The funeral was held Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009, in the Bergfriedhof chapel, Wernau am Neckar.