Elizabeth Alice Dieckman

Elizabeth Alice Dieckman (nee Baumeister) (77) of Jenkintown, PA passed away peacefully in the company of family at her home on December 6, 2024 after a courageous battle with cancer. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister and accomplished clinician, Elizabeth (sometimes called “Betty”) will be remembered for her spirited generosity, infectious laugh and smiling Irish eyes, warm, loving nature, clinical and educational contributions, and humanitarian work.

Born on April 3, 1947 in the Juniata section of Philadelphia, Elizabeth was the eldest in a large Irish Catholic family–sister to Mildred, Alice, Rita, Claire and brothers John, Patrick, and Matthew. She developed a nurturing, supportive disposition early on helping her mother Alice (Hendron) Fox navigate life with 8 children in a humble row home on “M” street where challenges and advantages presented themselves in equal measure. As a young girl, she’d often escape to the library and haul back as many books as she could fit in her little red wagon, which stoked an intellectual curiosity and ambition that remained lit throughout her life, resulting in early academic achievements and later becoming the first person in her family to earn a college degree.

Elizabeth’s professional journey started with early childhood education teaching at St. Joan of Arc in Port Richmond and JB Kelly School in Germantown. She put herself through nursing school, attending part time for 8 years while raising her 5 children (sometimes bringing them along to classes), eventually earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Holy Family College.

She found a niche in psychiatric nursing helping hundreds of patients throughout her career at Friends Hospital, an experience that led her to add a Masters in Counseling from Temple University to her academic credentials. A staunch advocate for mental health, she further refined her professional focus on the neurological and developmental needs of children and pursued a doctorate in nursing with board certification in family practice. Dr. Elizabeth Dieckman became a renowned expert, scholar and diagnostician in the field of autism, helping scores of patients and their families at St. Christopher’s Hospital and beyond for the last 20 years until retiring at age 75, while also teaching future nurse practitioners at Temple University as an adjunct professor.

Elizabeth’s commitment to children and families extended to the underserved and impoverished, prompting humanitarian work and voluntary mission trips to Central America (Honduras), South America (Peru) and as far as Africa (Tanzania), which allowed her to live and work in those communities directly supporting families. While these trips were some of the most incredible experiences for her both personally and professionally, it was her clinical support of families in her own backyard at St. Christopher’s and the deep love for her husband, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and friends that remained central.

She was a selfless, spiritual, kind and hardworking woman with a fun loving, spontaneous and quirky side–the most well rounded individual with a perpetual smile and easy charm. She remained a pillar of strength for her patients, family, friends, and colleagues before and during the cancer journey, always putting others first, even the nurses at Fox Chase Cancer Center. She took joy in life’s simple pleasures—Sunday family dinners, thrift shops, yard sales, lunches at diners, spontaneous road trips, and quiet moments with John on the porch of her beach houses–first, the Wild Irish Rose (North Wildwood), then Treasure Cove and Bayside Cottage (North Cape May). And she shared her homes generously with family, friends and colleagues year round. Her decor and interior design skills rivaled that of the Home and Garden Television designers whose shows she watched fairly religiously. She meticulously cared for the interior as well as the exterior and her avid gardening, lawn ornaments, and painted hardscapes beautifully demonstrated that.

Elizabeth had boundless energy, enjoyed life and lived it with purpose, love and compassion and an unwavering dedication to helping others.

She will be deeply missed by her beloved husband of 39 years, John Dieckman, and her children: David (Lori) Nadelstumph, Krista McKay, Maria Nadelstumph (Bill Gibson), John Patrick Dieckman, and Mark Dieckman, and cherished grandchildren: Justin and Devon Nadelstumph and Will Gibson, and her surviving siblings, Matthew Fox, Alice Byrne, John Fox, and Rita Elms-Fox. She is reunited in peace with her late parents Alice J. Fox and John Fox and siblings, Mildred Bevans, Claire Fox, Patrick Fox, and Baby John. Elizabeth is also remembered with love by her nieces, nephews, extended family, and countless friends.

A viewing for relatives and friends will be held at the Joseph J. McGoldrick Funeral Home (507 West Ave. in Jenkintown, PA) on Thursday, 12/12/24, from 6 PM to 8 PM and again on Friday 12/13/24 from 9 AM to 10 AM.

A celebration of life and funeral mass is scheduled for 10:30 AM on Friday, 12/13/24, at Immaculate Conception BVM Church (606 West Ave, Jenkintown, PA). In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Christopher’s Hospital.

Condolences may be made at: www.mcgoldrickfh.com