Patricia A. Dietrich

Patricia Annette Dietrich (Forbes), 68, of Cabool, MO., and most recently of rural Nora Springs, died Sunday, January 5, 2025, at her mother’s home after a yearlong battle with cancer. Her family will have a private celebration of life observance at 1 p.m. Sunday, January 12, 2025, at the family farm in rural Nora Springs. Her children plan to hold a memorial service later this year in Cabool. Per her wishes, she was cremated.

Patricia was born March 4, 1956, at Park Hospital in Mason City to Charles L. and LeNore V. Forbes of rural Rockford. She grew up on a farm between Mason City and Nora Springs, graduating from Nora Springs-Rock Falls High School in 1974. After graduation, she attended NIACC and worked as a server at the Country Kitchen restaurant and as a nurse’s aide at the Good Shepherd nursing home and the IOOF Home in Mason City.

She married Larry Dietrich of rural Joice in September 1975. The couple had two children: Christina Marie and Joseph Charles. The family lived in rural Joice before moving to Cabool in 1983 to operate a trailer park. During her time in Cabool, Patricia not only maintained the trailer park but also worked as a server and cook at a couple of local restaurants and then as a lead cook at a local nursing home before retiring in 2019 and returning to northern Iowa to care for her mother. She made many friends and acquaintances in Cabool through her gift of gab, sharp wit, and lively spirit.

Patricia was an avid and talented quilter, having created and sewn hundreds of quilts for family, friends, and organizations such as the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. She loved to garden, work outdoors, cook, read historical novels, make repairs, and hunt for bargains. When she was younger, she collected butterflies and kept tropical fish. She also enjoyed reminiscing about the people and places she knew as a child, teenager, and adult. She loved her family dearly. In a letter she wrote to her children for them to read after her passing, she asked them not to be sad but to remember all the good times they shared together.

Patricia is survived by her two children: Christina and Joseph Dietrich, both of Cabool; three grandchildren: Tyler Marsh and Evelyn Czybrinski of Cabool and Destiny (Alexander) Dalton of Mason City; and three great-grandchildren: Max, Monhica, and McKenzie Dalton. She is also survived by her mother, LeNore Forbes of rural Nora Springs; her brothers, Michael (Beth) Forbes of rural Rockford and Gregory Forbes of Mason City; sister, Teresa Forbes of Mason City; and nephews Jason Forbes of Waterloo and Phillip Forbes of Ames.

 She was preceded in death by her father Charles Forbes; an infant sister, Shirley Ann; maternal grandparents, Lawrence and Valborg Nelson; paternal grandparents, Noble Forbes and Doris Clark; three aunts: Donna O’Donnell, Kerri George, and Susan George Urban; and her former husband, Larry Dietrich.