JoAnne Dieterich first encountered the Williamson County Master Gardeners when her husband, Charlie, went through our inaugural intern class of 2007. After she retired from nursing in 2008, she completed the next intern semester and forever after she and her classmates referred to themselves as “Second Class Master Gardeners”. Let this missive convince you otherwise! JoAnne has led the Rose Demonstration Garden, served in our Speaker’s Bureau, Hands on in the Garden, began and maintained the “Oak Wilt Infusion Team” and “Country Store”—projects of old—and says that her favorite work of all were the Hutto Junior Master Gardener classes she facilitated with Patsy Bredahl (who is still a First Class Master Gardener).
JoAnne obtained an Advanced Training Certification in Propagation and taught that section of the annual intern class from 2011-2018, bringing a hands-on approach to that very important part of Master Gardener education. She also was the Intern Class Facilitator for three of those eight years.
If she could only have one plant in her world, JoAnne would choose the ‘Quietness’ rose. Her favorite gardening tool is a hand-held triangle-blade weeder: the Ken-Ho. JoAnne’s highest recommendation is Sam Cotner’s “The Vegetable Book: A Texan’s Guide to Gardening” and her best gardening advice is: START SMALL! When I asked her for a “fun fact” about herself, she recalled being an army nurse in the South Korean initial care evacuation hospital to which North Vietnam released their 11-month staggering US Navy captives of the USS Pueblo Incident. JoAnne Dieterich later was a hospital nurse and nurse educator at Brooks Army Medical Center and afterwards at Georgetown Hospital. It is certain that due to those experiences, her friends reflect that JoAnne is one who works hard and without complaint, not needing any type of leadership role or accolades for her volunteerism. Fellow Emerita Winola VanArtsdalen said, “JoAnne is liked and enjoyed by all. If anyone ever had a problem with JoAnne, it was clear to EVERYone else that THEY were the problem, not her. But of course, that never happened!” Master Gardener volunteerism is sometimes thankless. Often the highest title achievers or most hours winners get all the pins and trophies. But without humble, long-serving, kind, ever-willing hard workers like JoAnne Dieterich, our local and state associations would not meet the needs of ordinary Texas gardeners. Thank you and congratulations on a Master Gardener career well-executed, JoAnne!