RICHARD JOSEPH DIEHL

RICHARD JOSEPH DIEHL of Columbus, OH died January 24, 2022 at the age of 75. A licensed funeral director and embalmer for nearly fifty years, he served his apprenticeship at Ball Funeral Home in Cleveland before joining the family business, Diehl Funeral Home in Youngstown. In 1969, the Diehl family acquired Mrs. D.A. Whittaker & Sons in Columbus. Early in his career, Diehl often commuted between the two facilities. Shortly after the death of his father in 1973, the Youngstown location was discontinued, and in 1977, Diehl built the existing facility on the site of the Whittaker establishment. It was at this time that the firm's name was changed to Diehl-Whittaker Funeral Service, where he served as CEO and president. A graduate of the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, he was a member of the Central Ohio Funeral Directors Association and the Ohio Funeral Directors Association.