Bettina Babcock Dietrich

Bettina Babcock Dietrich, age 95, a former resident of Live Oak, Florida passed away August 8, 2008, at the Hospice Center of Charleston, SC. She was born on January 28, 1913 in Milwaukee, WI, the daughter of Charles W. Babcock and Gertude Robinson Babcock. She was predeceased by her sisters, Harriett Nenoff, Judith Lewis, and Willa Folch-Pi. She attended the German-English Academy and graduated from Riverside High School. While a student at the Layton of Art, she met George Adams Dietrich and married him in May 1934. He was a sculptor, painter, designer and teacher. They moved to Madison, FL to further his career and lived there for over thirty years. After he died in 1999, she moved to Charlston, SC. Of unusual beauty and intellect, she modeled for many of her husband’s works, one of which is as the center figure in the garden sculpture in Whitnal Park, Milwaukee, WI. She was a published poet and writer and a talented painter and sculptor. Survivors include her sisters-in-law Julia Dietrich, Knuppel of Greencastle, IN and Dorothy Dietrich Kolb of Urbana, IL, and by numerous nieces and nephews. Memorial services will be held Saturday, Sept. 27th at 9:00 am in the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church with father Donald Woodrum officiating. Interment will follow in the Live Oak Cemetery. Following the services at the cemetery the family would like to invite their friends and family to join them for a brunch at the church. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 1238, Live Oak, FL 32064.