Muriel Marie Diehl

Muriel Marie Diehl, 98, passed away February 28, 2019, at Casa de La Luz Kanmar Place Hospice in Tucson.

Marie was born in Stamps Arkansas on September 3, 1920, to Noel and Cora Mae (Whitten) Fincher. The family moved to Arizona when Marie was a toddler and settled in Ajo when her father got a job with the mine.

Marie attended Ajo Schools and graduated from Ajo High School with the class of 1938. After high school, she worked for Phelps Dodge as a telephone operator, and at the company store before working as a clerk in the Tucson Cornelia & Gila Bend Railroad office. Her supervisor, Emory Diehl, would eventually become her father-in-law.

On September 16, 1949, Marie married Thomas E. Diehl in the Ajo Federated Church, and they raised three daughters, Diane, Ellen, and Denise.

Marie was active in the Xi Alpha Sigma Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, serving as Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, and President. In 1982, she received the Order of the Rose, one the sorority’s highest honors. In 2012 Marie was honored with the Golden Circle award in recognition for her 50 years of membership.

Marie was active in the Ajo Federated Church, serving as Financial Secretary for many years.

Marie will be remembered for her quiet grace, caring for family and helping neighbors and friends by running errands and providing transportation.

For the past five years, Marie has lived in Oro Valley.

She was preceded in death by her husband Tom Diehl, who died in 1997, her parents, her step-mother, Birdie Fincher, her sisters, Imogene Martin and Corinne Ray, and her brother Hal Fincher. She is survived by her daughters Diane (Tony) Padilla of West Linn, Oregon; Ellen (Charles) Camarillo of Redlands, California; and Denise Diehl of Oro Valley, Arizona, and her sister Nadine Vaught of Prescott. She is also survived by her grandchildren Laura Sabo, Anneliese Padilla, Rene Padilla, and Alex Camarillo and her great-granddaughter Arden Sabo.

Services will be held at the Ajo Federated Church on Friday, March 8th at 2:00 pm. Burial will follow at Ajo Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made in her honor to the Ajo Federated Church, 101 Lomita Avenue in Ajo.

Arrangements are being made by Douglas Funeral Home.