Helen Virginia Leitch Diehl – “Pidge” to family and friends -- died on July 22, 2026, with her sons at her side after a short illness in Bethesda, Maryland. A brilliant intellect, strong convictions and a series of wise choices shaped a full life of 89 years.

Pidge joined the world in Steubenville, Ohio, during the Great Depression, on May 10, 1937. She was the third of three children, with brother Jim eight years older and sister Mary six years older. Her father Jim was a United Presbyterian minister and her mother Helen had a college degree, unusual in her day.

Pidge was a preacher’s kid, although a boy wrote in her yearbook that she didn’t act like one. Being a PK meant the Sabbath was strictly reserved for rest, except that her energetic brother Jim was allowed to dig holes in the back yard. On Christmas, gifts were on hold until after a full breakfast and all dishes were washed, dried and put away. Pidge and her family remained in Steubenville until 1942, when the family moved to the town of Indiana, Pennsylvania. In 1950 they were on to Mt. Lebanon, in greater Pittsburgh, where Pidge would go to high school.

It was a childhood environment of high expectations for Pidge, in both the moral and earthly realms. The family let off steam through not-so gentle teasing. One Christmas the family let Pidge think her only gift was a lump of coal, because earlier she refused to share popcorn she had made. They relented only after she cried. Yet Pidge gave as good as she got. After her father kept stealing the bread she had carefully buttered at dinner, she let him take a piece she had licked up and down, telling him only later. When it was her turn to set the table, Pidge set out extra silverware and plates to leave her sister Mary more work afterwards. And when Granddad Kyle joined other veterans marching in a parade, she later told him, “I saw you in the parade and you didn’t do it very well.” Family dynamics equipped Pidge to stand up for herself and for fairness, but she sometimes reacted to a perceived slight when none was intended.

Books were a big part of Pidge’s childhood and they would remain so her entire life. She and her mother would read poetry to each other while doing chores, Emily Dickenson being a favorite. Pidge kept her mother’s poetry anthologies through many moves. While still a child, Pidge adored visits to her maternal grandparents as they would let her read as much as she wanted, even at the dinner table. Grandma Kyle would walk Pidge downtown to buy a new book after the last was finished. Pidge kept an extensive library at home and was always working on a stack of books from the local library. Pidge consumed not only fiction but books on history, religion and philosophy -- her collection underlined and full of notes.

A brilliant intellect led to academic and professional success. After graduating from Mt. Lebanon Senior High School in 1955, she won a scholarship, completed college in three years, and graduated magna cum laude in 1958 from Muskingum College, majoring in History and minoring in English. After a long break to support her husband Peter and their children, she went back to school, securing a Masters in Counselor Education from Florida International University (FIU) in 1975. Work and academics then overlapped as Pidge worked in employee development at Mount Sinai Medical Center (1976-1980) and later as Assistant Vice President for Management and Development at Southeast Bank (1980-1984), while securing a Doctorate in Education in 1986, the first Ed.D. ever awarded by FIU. She co-authored a textbook in addition to her dissertation.

Strong convictions around social justice were a through line in Pidge’s life. She was committed to a more just society and saw education and politics as vehicles for change. She was well-read on issues of the day and ready to share her views with anyone who cared to listen. She could be highly critical but also respected that others might hold the same goals but think they might be accomplished another way. She had little patience, though, for intolerance or bigotry.

Over the years, Pidge made a series of wise decisions that enriched her life with satisfaction and fun. The first was sealed on August 22, 1959, when she married college sweetheart Peter Diehl. Pete was a beer-drinker, an average student at best, and pulled epic college pranks, some involving weather balloons and cherry bombs. Early dates let Pidge know what she was getting into – including trips to the dump to shoot rats. But Pete was also kind and gentle, and deeply thoughtful about religion, philosophy and life. As a smart and beautiful young woman, she could have chosen any suitor. She wisely married Pete.

Theirs was a match for the ages. At first, Pidge’s role was to support Pete’s education and career. The couple moved outside of Boston for Pete’s divinity degree, where son Michael was born in 1961. Later, Pete would move the family to Columbus, Ohio; South Hadley, Massachusetts (birthplace of Steven in 1964); and Essex, Connecticut; all places where Pete served as a minister in the United Church of Christ.

The year 1970 brought big changes as Pete went into education and moved the family to Perrine, Florida, and later Hialeah, and Miami Lakes. Pidge often recalled the three-day drive from Essex to Perrine in a 1970 Ford Mustang with two boys under ten and two cats on tranquilizers. But wherever they went, Pidge and Pete did everything together, raising the boys, navigating work politics, preparing to lead discussion groups, or travelling the world. Pidge organized the trips and Pete gladly went along, their favorite a visit to the Galapagos Islands.

Pidge was devoted to sons Michael and Steven and later her five grandchildren, whom she and Pete took on outings and brought gifts. Pidge sometimes nurtured unnecessary grievances that affected family life, but her sons remember a warm and supportive home. And woe unto any educator who failed to appreciate either boy’s gifts -- Pidge was on the case.

Pidge passed many patient hours making cross-stitch and needlepoint, sometimes depicting animals and alphabets for her grandchildren and other times patterns based on Celtic iconography and the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Later, she dove into photography, saying she needed something to do as she waited for Pete to get his shots. She was a great music lover, patronizing standout Columbus musicians including the late Mark Flugge, and enjoying season tickets to the Cleveland Orchestra.

A second wise decision was to go into education in her career’s long, closing chapter. From 1984 to 2001, Pidge was on faculty at St. Thomas University in greater Miami. She coordinated the Master of Science in Management Program and became Department Chair, teaching domestic and international students. Her conversations with family and friends were often animated by her experiences with students, faculty and administrators. She set high standards and fiercely championed her students, some of whom were police officers going back to school. At St. Thomas she also met her great friend Barbara Graham, a professor of Spanish. The two were kindred souls in the swirl of campus politics.

A third wise decision came after Pidge retired in 2001. Whereas most people move south after working life, Pidge proposed a move to Columbus, Ohio, and Pete was only too happy to agree. In Columbus, they would renew old connections and make new ones. They renovated a house in Marble Cliff in close collaboration with architect and friend Ray Harpham, designing it to accommodate visits from the children and grandchildren. The kitchen even included a mural they commissioned that included their grandchildren and robot characters invented by Pete. Continuing her personal commitment to social justice, Pidge was the coordinator for the United Church of Christ’s Task Force to Abolish the Death Penalty in Ohio and was the Founding Secretary for We Believe Ohio, a faith-based effort to make progress on poverty, health care, and equal rights.

About ten years before her death, Pidge made a last wise decision, convincing Pete it was time to move to First Community Village on Riverside Drive, a senior community that could accommodate their changing needs. She and Pete took on and enhanced The Villager newsletter, meeting many residents and staff as a result. They instituted “Coffee and Chat” meetings on campus and continued to lead sessions of “Tuesdays at 10” at First Community Church, where they discussed theology and philosophy. Later, as Pete declined in 2020, Pidge was able to ensure that Pete would be able to die at home, as he wished.

Pidge suffered a major stroke in January 2024, limiting her verbal abilities and mobility. But even without her trademark wit, Pidge continued to make an impression and became a favorite of the wonderful staff that cared for her. One teasingly called her “Miss Sunshine,” another dubbed her “Lady Pidgerton” and another called her “The Ambassador.” In her final year of life, Pidge moved to Maryland to be near a son and daughter-in-law.

A Harvard professor once said that “well-behaved women seldom make history.” Pidge never went to Harvard and never was famous, but she made history over and over among her family, friends, and students, the people she loved and that mattered to her most. She made the most of her 89 years. May she rest in peace.

Pidge is survived by her sons Michael Diehl of Bethesda, Maryland, and Steven K. Diehl of Homestead, Florida, as well as their respective wives, Carmen Cristina Rabadán-Diehl (née Rabadán Volkmer) and Roxanne L. “Lori” Diehl (née Cason). Pidge is also survived by grandson Austin K. Diehl, his wife Gloria J. Diehl (née Stewart), and their son Isaac K. Diehl of Orlando, Florida. Also surviving is grandson Alexander M. Diehl of Madrid, Spain, and granddaughter Kensley A. Nehmer (née Diehl) and her husband Jason R. Nehmer of Wesley Chapel, Florida. Surviving additionally are granddaughter Casey L. Ehrenberg (née Diehl), her husband David M. Ehrenberg, and their son Benjamin M. Ehrenberg of Charles Town, West Virgina. Pidge is further survived by her sister Mary Martsolf (formerly Porter, née Leitch), of Gainesville, Florida. Pidge is predeceased by her husband Peter Diehl, her brother James O. Leitch and her grandson Jonathan Diehl.