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Obituary for Earl W Diddle

EARL WILLIAM DIDDLE, 90

EAST LIVERPOOL -- Earl W. Diddle, 90, has passed on to his eternal home on Sunday, October 23, 2016. After several years of sickness and weakness, his mind, body and soul are now well and whole.

Earl was born at City Hospital on April 8, 1926, a son of the late John Everett and Gladys Elizabeth Tate Diddle and lived all his life in East Liverpool. He traveled from time to time, but he was always ready to come home. After graduating from East Liverpool High School in the midst of World War II, Earl joined the Navy, hoping the rumor he’d heard would prove true...that those who enlist voluntarily receive better treatment than those who wait to be drafted. Unfortunately, Earl quickly found that, once at basic training, everyone was treated exactly the same. He nevertheless completed his tour through war’s end, serving as a petty officer in the Philippines.

Upon returning home, Earl found work as an installer, and later as a repair technician and test-board operator, with the Ohio Bell Telephone Company. He repeatedly turned down offered promotions, preferring the freedom of working outside to that of an indoor office environment. He retired from Ohio Bell in 1985 with over 36 years of service.

Earl was a gifted bowler, golfer and basketball player, and tried his best to train his children in those sports...with mixed results. He enjoyed following Ohio State and Cleveland sports teams as well. Although he became an official member of First Free Methodist Church in East Liverpool in just the past few years, Earl was faithful in Sunday school and worship and gave generously and selflessly to the Lord and Church all his life.

Earl married Bonnie Jean Blackmore in September of 1968 in Smith’s Ferry, Pennsylvania. Three children were then born: Pastor Daryl Alan Diddle and his wife, Annette, of Wilmore, KY; Colette Jean Diddle of Lakewood, OH; and Jerry Everett Diddle and his wife, Katie, also of Wilmore, KY, along with six grandchildren: Michael Bowden (the son of Colette), Benjamin, Paul, and David Diddle (the sons of Daryl and Annette), and Abbie and Nathan Diddle (the children of Jerry and Katie).

Earl was preceded in death by his beloved parents, and by ten of his eleven equally loved brothers and sisters. One sister, Delma Eisenhart, survives him.

All who knew Earl would say he was a man of few words, but when he did speak, his words were significant and filled with grace. He was a simple, but wise, man, who showed his love to his family by being a hard-working and faithful husband and a patient and generous father and grandfather. His consistent concern for the well-being of others, and particularly for his family, speak of the grace of God at work in his life, and in that grace, we who remain take great comfort and hope in these days.

Friends may visit at the Dawson Funeral Home on Monday, where the family will be present from 6 to 8 p.m., and again from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Services will be held at the funeral home at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, with Pastor Daryl Diddle officiating. Earl will be laid to rest at Columbiana County Memorial Park, where the Tri-State Veterans Burial Group will provide full military honors.

The family requests memorial donations be made to the general fund of the First Free Methodist Church, East Liverpool, Ohio.


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