Michael Joseph Dietz

Michael Joseph Dietz, Sr., 72, passed away suddenly Tuesday morning, June 23, 2020 after a valiant struggle with bone marrow cancer (myelofibrosis neoplasm that rapidly progressed to acute leukemia). Michael was born November 14, 1947 to Nicholas and Mary (Wilhelmi) Dietz in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of three children. He served in the Navy for 3 years. He met his beautiful bride and wife of 50 years, Susan Lee (Dobiss) Dietz and they were married in Chicago, Illinois. On 9/30/1966 he began his 33 year career with Delta Air Lines retiring as a Station Manager in Raleigh-Durham. "He returned to Phoenix to be with family and worked for another 10 years for the Town of Gilbert Police Department as a Teleserve Officer and an Alarms Specialist He enjoyed cars (his favorite was his atomic orange 2007 Corvette), RVs, and trips up north to the high country. He was an avid Fox News watcher and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Michael is survived by his wife, Susan; daughter Lori (Brian) Mercer and son Michael (Tiffany) Dietz Jr.; grandchildren Joshua Mercer, Megan and Emma Dietz; sister Elizabeth Dietz and Judy (Don) Gabrick; nieces Mary Davila, Kaila and Kristen Anderson; nephews Donald and Kurt Gabrick and numerous cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents Mary and Nick Dietz. Funeral services will be held on Friday, July 24, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. at Falconer Funeral Home. His final resting place will be the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the PAN (Patient Access Network) Foundation PO Box 76408, Bethesda, MD 76408 or online at https://www.panfoundation.org/donate/ When he was first diagnosed there were not many resources for this rare disease. The only treatment medication was very expensive. The PAN Foundation made access to this medication affordable If you are able to choose Philadelphia Chromosome Negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms the money would go directly to helping others with the only treatment available for the cancer he had.