Wayne F. Diederich

Wayne F. Diederich passed away on November 3, 2022 at the age of 90 at Windham Hospital. A longtime resident of Columbia CT, he lived his final years with his wife, Geraldine (O'Connor) Diederich, at Colebrook Village in Hebron CT. They had been married for 65 years. Wayne was born in Lorain Ohio on March 10th, 1932 to Marcellus and Kathryn (Myers) Diederich. They lived in North Ridgeville Ohio with his sister Nancy (Diederich) Lohrer. He attended St Peter's Catholic School and graduated from North Ridgeville High School in 1950. He went to Notre Dame for one year before attending Western Reserve University where he played on the football team and received a Bachelor's Degree in Education. After college he enlisted in the US Army and served in Germany. Upon discharge in 1957 he married Geraldine O'Connor from Elyria Ohio. She is the daughter of Gerald and Marie (Ursem) O'Connor. They lived in Westlake while Wayne taught and coached football at Bay Village High School. They moved to West Richfield Ohio where Wayne taught and coached football at Brecksville High School. They settled in Elyria Ohio when Wayne was named Head Football Coach at Elyria Catholic High School. Because of his success at Elyria Catholic, Wayne was elected to the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame and the Lorain County High School Coaches Hall of Fame. While at Elyria Catholic, Wayne earned his Master's Degree in Education Administration from Western Reserve. He then earned his PhD in Education Administration from the University of Connecticut while working as a scout for the football team. After earning his PhD we was the Assistant Principal at Greene Central High School in Green NY in 1975. He returned to Connecticut and was the Principal at East Hampton High School from 1976 to 1980. He then went to The Norwich Free Academy where he was a Housemaster and initiated the 9th Grade House Program to help Freshmen assimilate into the large school. He retired from NFA in 1996. He was a life-long sports fan who loved College Football and the Boston Red Sox. He was an avid skier from his 20's well into his 70's and enjoyed skiing in New England, The Rockies and Europe. We was also active in the Boy Scouts in Columbia and the Connecticut District. Wayne is survived by his wife Geraldine, children Kathryn (Diederich) and her husband Rick Jensen who live in Rochester NY, Paul Diederich and his wife Diane (O'Connor) who live in Union CT, Margaret (Diederich) and her husband Kevin Weber who live in Brewster MA, and Joe Diederich and his wife Courtenay (Cogan) who live in Middletown MD. There are also nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren who got to celebrate his 90th Birthday at a picnic in August. He was pre-deceased by his sister, Nancy (Diederich) Lohrer. Calling hours will be held at Potter Funeral Home, 456 Jackson St., Willimantic, on Monday, November 7, 2022 from 4:00pm-6:00pm. His Funeral Mass will be held at St. Columba Church, 328 Rte. 66, Columbia, on Tuesday November 8, at 11:00am. Wayne's six grandsons will serve as pallbearers. In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Parkinson's Foundation at www.parkinson's.org. For an online memorial guestbook please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com.