Dorothy Dietler

Written by Bernice Woo & Carolyn Kneedler

“You meet the nicest people!” exclaims Dorothy Dietler when asked what has kept her volunteering for the American Cancer Society for 18 years. Given the honor of the ‘Sterling Award’ last year at her 17 year mark, Dorothy says she has loved every minute of time she has spent in the agency. When she retired in 1983 she started as a driver taking cancer patients to their radiation appointments and was impressed by the optimism and good cheer of those people, which made her feel good, too. Even years later some of those same people will approach her on the street to say hello and thank her again for getting them to the help they needed.

About 1985 Dorothy began volunteering for the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop on Marconi Avenue, which is an upscale second hand shop raising money for the fight against cancer and which has regularly been the top money raiser of all the ACS Discovery Shops in California. Currently she is ‘Daily Chair’ on Saturdays which means she is responsible for opening, staffing with volunteers, problem solving, closing and accounting for sales and receipts as well as helping the customers ‘discover’ that special item they cannot do without. A huge bonus for her is spending the day with the shop’s wonderful volunteers and “it has become part of my life’s routine on Saturdays,” she says. For the past few years Dorothy has added Tuesdays to her routine as a valued office volunteer for RSVP, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program.

Soon after retirement Dorothy also spent 10 years (from 1983-1993) as a volunteer for the Sacramento Visitors Center when it was housed near the Delta King in Old Sacramento. She says she “loved meeting people from all over the world and conveying enthusiasm to them about our town and what it has to offer.” As a resident of Sacramento for 50 years Dorothy knows a lot about this town and its history.

Dorothy was born in Butte, Montana and moved with her parents and 3 brothers to Santa Ana, California. While living in Santa Ana, Dorothy completed her education, graduating from UCLA. Following her family to Sacramento in 1954 she became an original owner in the Arden Park area of the County and worked in the offices of an oil company, and later an auto parts store in Woodland. She loves Sacramento, its well defined seasons, working in her large yard, volunteering, and all her friends, some of which she plays golf with every Monday. All this activity may be why Dorothy is in great health at the age of 85!