KENNEBUNK – “My love affair with the Kennebunks began when I first walked the grounds of 97 Old Port Road, moving at a rapid pace to avoid the mosquitoes that swarmed in the very long grass. Louisa Winston, one of the areas longtime real estate agents kept muttering ‘You don’t want this house – too much work.’ Oddly enough, Kathy and I did, and so began a relationship with two communities that would shape our families and relationships for the next four decades.” – Tim Dietz As much as the Kennebunks may have shaped Tim’s adult life, it’s the influence that Tim had on the community that is truly profound. In ways both large and small, Tim was a force for good. Whether he was shoveling out an elderly neighbor after a snowstorm, or developing a fundraising campaign for a local non-profit, Tim had the best interests of the community and its people at heart. He was a visionary and a leader, who had the ability to recognize peoples’ talents and connect them with a project or organization where together they achieved great things to benefit others. Tim’s influence can be seen in everything from the marketing he did for local businesses as the owner of Dietz Associates, to land he helped preserve for generations to come. He served on countless boards and helped raise millions of dollars to ensure that the Kennebunks thrived. Tim’s contributions were recently recognized at the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel Chamber’s Annual Meeting where he received the Joel Stevens Community Spirit Award on September 11, 2019. Tim had many passions. Among them, basketball, history and a love of travel. But at the heart of it all was people. He loved people and they loved him. From Presidents of the United States to the everyday man, Tim was a friend to everyone. He treated them all with kindness and respect. Tim had a way of making you feel as though you were the most important person in the room, because in his eyes you were. Individuals and organizations often sought his advice and he provided support without hesitation. You could arrive at his door unannounced and Tim would drop what he was doing, welcome you in with a wave of his hand, and give you his undivided attention. Tim was raised in a large, loving family in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan by Robert and Mary Dietz. Always the consummate storyteller, Tim would often reminisce about his happy childhood. He loved nothing more than meeting a fellow “Michigander”. Tim passed away at home as a result of complications from cancer on September 18, 2019 surrounded by his loving family. Tim wanted to thank the community for making him who he was. But it is Tim who deserves the thanks, for the legacy he leaves and all that he has done for us. Tim will be missed by his loving wife Kathleen Collins Dietz of Kennebunk. He was immensely proud of his daughters, Lani Dietz of Boston, MA and Erin Dietz Howard and her husband Joel, of Kennebunk. Tim is also survived by his brother Robert Dietz of Cary, NC and three sisters, Mary Saffian of Westland, MI, Maureen Trapp of Ann Arbor, MI and Kathy Stadtmiller of Livonia, MI., as well as their spouses and numerous nieces and nephews. Friends are invited to join the family to celebrate Tim’s life at 11 a.m. on Thursday, September 26, 2019 at South Congregational Church, 2 North Street, Kennebunkport.To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit Tim’s Book of Memories page at www.bibberfuneral.com. Arrangements are entrusted to Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer Street, Kennebunk, ME 04043.Should friends desire, memorial donations may be made to one of the following:The KennebunkLand trust6 Brown St., Suite 2Kennebunk, ME 04043 or:KennebunkportConservation TrustPO Box 7004Cape Porpoise, ME 04014 or: KennebunkportHistorical SocietyP.O. Box 1173Kennebunkport, ME 04046 or: Graves Memorial LibraryLouis T. Graves Memorial Public LibraryP.O. Box 391Kennebunkport, ME 04046

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