Hi, Cousin,
If you are reading this you are likely a descendant of Eliza and Edward M. Deitz (or Dietz) of Akron who are buried at Glendale Cemetery, Akron's most stately and historic cemetery. We are Roberta Lee, great grand-daughter of Edward and Eliza, and Tim DeFrange, great-great grandson of Edward and Eliza. We are raising about two thousand dollars to preserve the memory of Edward and Eliza as well as Edward's original marble gravestone. The white marble marker that stands on their grave is over 130 years old and is so worn that it cannot be read at all. Yet this marble gravestone was cut by Edward M. Deitz himself. We plan to insert a black granite base underneath it engraved with the names of the eight ancestors and relatives buried there. We hope that you will be able to donate something to this effort. Whatever you donate no matter how small the monetary gift, entitles you to a CD with the 30-page history of the Edward Deitz/Eliza Denate-Grimson-Deitz Family that you can open in Microsoft Word and print out.
The sextant at Glendale provided Tim DeFrange with a photocopy of the Glendale Cemetery record for the Edward Deitz family plot. Above is an image of the Glendale burial record card. It shows that Edward bought the 233 square foot plot on March 7, 1870 for $48.75 and why: six-year-old Ada Deitz died from scarlet fever the next day and was buried there. Edward's first wife Judith (Keller) Deitz would die later that same year after giving birth to their second son, Eddie. Edward would ask Eliza Grimson, who had just lost her second child during childbirth, to wet nurse Eddie (born 11 July, 1870). When Eliza's husband Frederick Grimson dies two years later, Edward allows Eliza to bury Frederick in the Deitz plot. Then Edward marries Eliza in 1873 and they live with their kids from their first marriages: Edward's sons Charles (born 1864), little Eddie (born 1870), and Eliza's daughter Molly Grimson (born in 1872). Edward and Eliza have Edith in 1874 and Ferdinand in 1875 before losing a stillborn infant in 1878. The unnamed infant is buried here. Their last baby is Anna, born June 11, 1880. In 1890 Edward dies of Stonemason's Consumption and is buried under the marble stone that he himself carved. Then recently married Molly Grimson Marquardt loses her baby in 1892 and buries the child there. Last to be buried here is Charles Dietz who died Sept 11, 1933 at the age of 68 after a career as a candy maker. This is just a a portion of the many interesting stories that await your reading pleasure when you contribute to the Dietz Marker Fund.
Where is the stone at Glendale? It is in section 6A, Lot 1, the oldest section on the hilltop at Glendale.
Send your gift to and request a CD of the Edward and Eliza Deitz Family history from:
Tim DeFrange (For Deitz CD)
1142 Munroe Falls Kent Road
Kent, OH 44240
