Doris Dietrich

Doris Jean (Tuffley) Dietrich ,92 years, 9 months and 34 days old, passed away early morning Friday July 24, 2020 at home in the presence of her loving daughter, Cindy Sue and her loving son, Jeffrey Jay. She was born September 19, 1927 in Topeka,Kansas, the daughter of Pirl R. Tuffley and Eula M. (Sanderfer) Tuffley.

Doris grew up in Topeka and was a lifelong resident. She attended Topeka public schools including East Topeka Junior High School and Topeka High School. Doris was musically gifted and played the accordion in various local ensembles after high school.

She worked in a downtown Topeka dime store while in high school and later had to leave to help take care of her maternal grandmother at home until her passing. Doris then worked as a bookkeeper in the office of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Topeka plant for approximately 12 years.

She was married to Duane Berbie Dietrich for 54+ years. He passed away January 28, 2011. They met while at a dance in early 1955, held by the dance studio where Duane was taking dance lessons.
Doris and Duane were married on August 26, 1956, at East Topeka Methodist Church in Topeka and honeymooned in Colorado Springs,Colorado. They later vacationed there with their adult children. Doris and Duane traveled throughout the majority of the United States while their children were young, and taking the extended family of surviving grandparents along for the trips.

Doris enjoyed her hobbies of cooking, sewing and gardening and providing them for the benefit of her family, relatives and friends. She was a contestant at a Pillsbury Bake-Off in Santa Monica, California and at an egg cooking contest held in Chicago,Illinois both in the early 1960's. Doris entered pies and home canned fruits as well as garments she had made in the Mid-America Fair and successor Sunflower State Expo in Topeka , Shawnee County for many years. Doris supported and took great part in Duane's passion hobby of growing fruit and nut trees, berries and various vegetables. A yearly trip with the whole family to Iowa to buy nursery stock each spring was a joy especially for Duane but Doris was happy that it made him happy. The produce of the plants acquired were entered in the Shawnee County/Topeka Fairs/Expo contests for many years. Doris and Duane briefly owned and operated a sandwich shop (D & D Cottage Kitchen) on Kansas Avenue in downtown Topeka in 1973.

She was a devoted wife to Duane and spent time with him hunting pheasant in Western Kansas and quail near Carbondale,Kansas where Duane grew up. She was also a devoted and dearly loving mother to Cindy and Jeffrey. Doris provided them with homemade cookies or cupcakes to take to school for various classroom events and was always ready to volunteer as a room mother at school for their classrooms or as a driver of the family station wagon for class field trips.
Her daughter and son will miss her deeply and will dearly and forever love her.

Besides her children, other survivors include a nephew Edward Barrett (Elaine) of Midwest City, Oklahoma and a niece Sharon (Barrett) Deramus (Garry) of Eureka Springs,Arkansas and their children and grandchildren.

Visitation for Doris will be Sunday August 2, 2020 from 4pm to 6pm with her family in attendance at Penwell-Gabel Mid-Town Chapel 1321 SW 10th Avenue Topeka,KS 66604. Funeral will be on Monday August 3, 2020 at 10am at Penwell-Gabel Mid-Town Chapel followed by burial at 11am at Memorial Park Cemetery 3616 SW 6th Street Topeka,KS

The family welcomes floral arrangements, or memorial contributions may be made to Capper Foundation of Topeka, St. Labre Indian School in Ashland, Montana, Disabled American Veterans or Paralyzed Veterans of America.