Dietrich

Carol Ann Dietrich, 71, of Renfrew died at 5:05 p.m. Monday in Butler Memorial Hospital.

Born in DuBois, Jan. 25, 1938, she was the daughter of the late Frank R. Simpkins and Anna Mack Simpkins.

Mrs. Dietrich was a member of Christ Community United Methodist Church.

She became a licensed practical nurse and went to work in nursing homes in Butler County. She then returned to the Butler County Memorial Hospital Nursing School and graduated as a registered nurse. Carol went to work as a staff nurse on the fifth floor surgical unit at Butler Memorial. The hospital would forever change her, and she would forever change it, and the delivery of health care in Butler County.

Not long after, she became a clinical instructor at the Butler Nursing School and taught generations of nurses the art of caring for others until the school closed in 1974.

From there, Carol went on to create Butler Hospital's first infection control program. She went to the Centers for Disease Control to train and returned to Butler Memorial, making it one of only four hospitals of its size in the nation to have such a sophisticated infection control program.

But for Carol, that wasn't enough. Her creative spirit and passion for care led her to Slippery Rock University to complete her bachelor's in nursing and to become director of nursing for Butler Hospital. She went on to her master's in nursing administration at the University of Pittsburgh while serving in her director's role at Butler Memorial. Then she did post graduate study in health care finance at Ohio State University.

"I never wanted to be the top person in the hospital," Carol said. But fate had other plans. From the 1980s well into the 1990s, each time a CEO of the hospital left, Carol was asked by the board to serve as interim administrator. Three times she filled the role until her retirement in 1997. In times of leadership upheaval, Carol served as the glue that kept the hospital together and progressing. But it was in the last 10 years of her career that she really drove the delivery of health care to new heights in Butler County.

She received the Women of Legacy Award, which seeks to honor those who have notably contributed to the health and well-being of the Butler County community through excellence in patient care, overcoming personal illness or crisis or improving some aspect of our community's health.

She is survived by her husband, Richard F. Dietrich, who she married July 20, 1957; two sons, Michael Dietrich and his wife, Pamela, of Butler and William F. Dietrich and his wife, Dr. Beccy Mosher, of Boston, Mass.; three grandchildren, Timothy John Schubert, Max Dietrich and Anna Dietrich; and a number of nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Dietrich was preceded in death by one sister, Marion Lescalleet; and by one brother, Frank Simpkins.

<B>DIETRICH</B> — Friends of Carol Ann Dietrich, who died Monday, Aug. 17, 2009, will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the <B>Thompson-Miller Funeral Home</B>, 124 E. North St. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at the funeral home with Pastor Howard F. Burrell, of Christ Community United Methodist Church, officiating. Interment will follow in Butler County Memorial Park.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Butler Memorial Hospital Foundation, 911 E. Brady St., Butler, PA 16001.Information and a private guest book are available at www.thompson-miller.com.