Obituary of Helga A. Dieffenbach

Helga Dieffenbach, aged 98, died peacefully at Londonderry Village in Palmyra on Wednesday evening May 31, 2023. Helga was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to Hans and Anna Griessmann in 1924.  She met Ray J. Dieffenbach of Berks County, Pennsylvania, in Frankfurt while she was a switchboard operator employed by the U.S. Army.  They were married in Germany in 1949 and moved to the United States shortly thereafter.  They were long time residents of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, where they were active members of Christ Lutheran Church. Helga worked in the cafeteria at Elizabethtown College.

Helga loved to swim and spent many pleasant days during the summers at Willowood Pool in Elizabethtown, switching her swimming to the indoor pool at Elizabethtown College during winter seasons.  She continued to swim well into her 90s at Londonderry Village. She had expertise in many kinds of needlecraft, including knitting, crocheting, and crewel embroidery. She loved to knit baby sweaters whenever there was an upcoming birth in the extended family.

Helga was quite proud that she learned to use a computer during her elder years, and she was subsequently able to communicate with her friends far and wide in both German and English languages.   

She was predeceased by her loving husband, Ray, in 1995, and by all of his brothers and sisters.  She is survived by her daughter Doris (Dan) Weisman, a large number of nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, and her dear friend, Vera Grieger, of Elizabethtown.    

A funeral service will be held on Thursday morning, July 13, 2023, at 11:00 AM in DiMatteo Worship Center at Londonderry Village, 1200 Grubb Road, Palmyra, PA 17078, with Pastor A.J. Domines, Jr. officiating. There will be no public viewing. All are invited to attend a luncheon and time of visitation immediately following the service at Londonderry Village. Interment will take place on Thursday in Elizabethtown Mennonite Cemetery at 3:00 PM. Contributions in memory of Helga may be made to Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, 75 E. High St., Elizabethtown, PA 17022 or to the Good Samaritan fund of Londonderry Village, 1200 Grubb Road, Palmyra, PA 17078.  To express a condolence with the family or to watch a livestream of the service visit, https://my.gather.app/remember/helga-dieffenbach.