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Elizabeth Strong Diebold, 94, of Ottumwa, Iowa died suddenly Tuesday, January 14, 2009 at The Haven (Sylvan Woods) where she resided. She was born to Edgar and Emma Gilbert Strong on March 17, 1914 near Durham, New York on a cold and snowy day. Betty graduated from Greenville High School near Durham, New York in 1931 and from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1935 with a BA in Zoology. She married Dr. Charles Harbou Diebold on December 21, 1935 at their college pastors home in Ithaca, New York. Charlie died January 4, 2003 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They were married for 68 years. She is survived by three sons, Robert (Bobbie) Diebold of Front Royal, Virginia, James (Caren) Diebold of Lakewood, Colorado and David (Becky) Diebold of Ottumwa, Iowa. Also surviving are ten grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren scattered across the country. Betty, who grew up in an era when few women had a college degree or career, was a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother as well as an intelligent and supportive wife to her husband in all his activities. She lived with her husband in a number of states early in their marriage including New York, Wisconsin, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, and finally moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1944. During this time, her husband worked for the Forest Service and later for the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) as a soil scientist. An early believer in the civil rights movement, Betty was active in the Albuquerque Chapter of the NAACP, serving several terms as Secretary in the 1950's. She and her husband were active members of the First Methodist Church and later the First Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque. She served several times as a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church calling on shut-ins and doing other congregational caring duties. In 1954, they bought a small farm east of Peralta, New Mexico (20 miles south of Albuquerque) where they raised native grass seed, flower seed, wheat and alfalfa. After her husband retired from the Soil Conservation Service in 1966, they continued to farm there until the late 1990s. They lived in their adobe farmhouse until 2003 when Charlie died. Starting in 1967, Betty accompanied her husband on most of his early mission work-trips to Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic where they lived and worked in some very remote and under-developed areas. They usually donated two or three winter months of their time to the Presbyterian Church with him serving as a consulting agronomist looking for ways to grow more or better crops to improve the diets of small farmers and their livestock in the third-world. In later years, they spent winters helping several rural communities in the mountains of Mexico to develop crop improvements, potable water delivery systems, and other community improvements thru A.R.T.A. (Appropriate Rural Technology Association), as well as C.H. Diebold Missions helping to sustain several rural Presbyterian Churches in this same area. She moved to Ottumwa, Iowa in 2003 to be close to her son, David and his family. She joined the First Presbyterian Church in Ottumwa shortly after moving there. She lived for about five and half years at Sylvan Woods and The Haven in Ottumwa. She enjoyed living there and being close to family. Her family is very appreciative of the caring support that the Resident Assistants gave to Betty during her stay at Sylvan Woods and The Haven. Even as her body wore out and her short-term memory faded, she maintained her fiercely independent spirit and was very determined to keep doing as many things as possible for herself right to the end. The body has been cremated. A Memorial Service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 215 Locust NE, Albuquerque, NM on Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. A reception will follow the Service. Robertson-Jay Funeral Home of Ottumwa, IA is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to C.H. Diebold Missions, 5 Eldorado Circle, Santa Fe NM 87508 or to A.R.T.A. 111 Tulane Dr. SE, Albuquerque NM 87106.
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