Résumé

Draftsman, Paul Hayden Kirk, Seattle, WA, 1940-1941; the 1940 US Census indicated that Robert worked 30 hours a week as a draftsman. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T627_4383; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 40-328, accessed 03/09/2017.)

MIT Building Supervisor, Cambridge, MA, 1942-1943; Architect, Office of Scientific Research Development, Princeton, NJ, 1943-1945; Draftsman, Anderson and Beckwith, Architects, Boston, MA, 1945-1947; Supervising and Construction Architect, J. Lister Holmes and Associates, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1948-1952.

Partner, Waldron and Dietz, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1953-1967. Waldron and Dietz developed a broad architectural practice designing churches, office buildings, and banks, but it quickly developed a specialty designing schools for all educational levels. In 1956, Waldron and Dietz operated at 208 Columbia Street in Downtown Seattle; the firm had moved by 1962 to new accommodations at 215 8th Street North.

When surveyed in 1956, Dietz indicated that he had been NCARB.

Teaching

Assistant/Associate/Professor, University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Seattle, WA, 1947-1980.

Assistant and Associate Professor, teaching contract drawings and design, University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Department of Architecture, Seattle, WA, 1947-1955.

Chairman, University of Washington, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Graduate Program in Architecture, Seattle, WA, 1959-1962.

Chair, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Design Program Committee, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Dean, University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Department of Architecture, Seattle, WA, 1961-1962. Dietz replaced Dr. Arthur P. Herrman (1898-1993) in 1961, who decided to concentrate on teaching.

Dean, University of Washington, Seattle (UW), College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP), Seattle, WA, 1962-06/1972. In 1962-1963, Architecture and Urban Planning became two distinct Departments at the UW. Dietz resigned as CAUP Dean in early 1972, with his resignation effective at the end of the spring quarter. (See Alf Collins, "Odd Parcels: University Favors Local Talent," Seattle Times, 03/19/1972, p. E4.)

Professional Activities

Dietz joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Washington State Chapter, in 1950. Secretary, AIA, Washington State Chapter, 1953.

Director, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), c. 1962. Member, National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), c. 1962.

Member, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, Building Research Advisory Board, 1965-1968. (See "Appointments," Architecture/West, 01/1965, p. 8.)

Professional Awards

Dietz was awarded an American Institute of Architects (AIA), Seattle Chapter, Honor Award for the John H. Walker Residence, Bellevue, WA, 1952.

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1965.

High School/College

Graduate, Bishop O'Dea High School, Seattle, WA, 1929.

B.Arch., University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Department of Architecture, Seattle, WA, 1941.

His sister said of Robert Dietz in a Seattle Times obituary: "After he graduated from O'Dea High School in 1929, he worked his way through the University of Washington doing many jobs, including being a longshoreman and a mail-room clerk, recalled his sister, Virginia McNurlin of Olympia. But for extra money he would set up a chair at the Pike Place Market and sketch people's portraits." (See Sherry Grindeland, Seattle Times.com, "Bob Dietz, retired dean at UW," published 05/18/2006, accessed 03/07/2017.)

M.Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, 1944.

College Awards

Elected to Tau Sigma Delta, national architectural honor society, UW, 1939.

Relocation

Dietz was born in Crofton, NE, in the northeastern portion of the state. In 06/1917, the Dietz Family lived in Lincoln, NE, where Robert's father worked for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The Dietz Family relocated to Seattle sometime after 02/1920 and before 1927. The US Census of 1920 record them living in Frankfort, NE in February of that year.

Dietz lived with parents and sister in a house at 9002 30th Avenue SW, according to the 1930 and 1940 US Censuses. The Dietz House had an approximate value of $3,000 in 1930 and $4,000 ten years later. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: 2504; Page: 34A; Enumeration District: 0416; Image: 396.0; FHL microfilm: 2342238, accessed 03/09/2017 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T627_4383; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 40-328, accessed 03/09/2017.)

Dietz and his family lived in Bothell, WA, in 1956. He lived at 2013 210th Circle NE, Redmond, WA, 98074-4210, c. 1984. In the 1990s, Robert Dietz also had an address at 11 East Rainier Court,in Allyn, WA. At some point late in his life, he also lived at 11828 84th Avenue NE, Kirkland, WA, 98034-6002.

He passed away in the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, AZ, at the age of 94.

Parents

His parents were Jacob David Dietz (1886-1952), a Russian immigrant, and Frances Huennekens Dietz (1888-1975), who was born in NE. Robert was their eldest son. Jacob worked as a laborer according to the 1910 US Census, a farmer in 1920, a construction laborer in 1930, and a longshoreman in 1940.

Frances maintained the household. Her parents were both American-born, her father came from WI, her mother, MI.

Jacob's family was from a German-speaking colony in Walter, Russia, in the southeastern part of the country on the Medveditsa River. Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796) invited ethnic Germans (but not Jews) to colonize parts of Russia, providing land and guaranteeing that they could maintain their own customs. During the 19th and 20th centuries, a great number of these ethnically German people immigrated to the US to farm in KS, NE, and the Dakotas. Jacob's parents, Christian and Rosme Dietz, traveled, with their five children, aboard the Hamburg America Line steamship, the Augusta Victoria, from Hamburg, Germany, to New York, NY, arriving on 10/12/1889.

In 1942, his World War II draft registration card indicated that Jacob, a 56-year-old stevedore, worked at Pier 2 in Seattle, (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Draft Registration Cards for Fourth Registration for Washington, 04/27/1942 - 04/27/1942; NAI Number: 563992; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 03/09/2017.)

Robert had five siblings, all together. One sister, identified in the 1910 US Census as "Doasey Dietz" was half a year old when the family was surveyed on 04/26/1910. This sister passed away at an early age. Two other sisters, Stella Dietz Wolley (born c. 1913 in NE) and Olive Dietz Greenwood (born c. 1921 in NE), died prior to 2006. A brother, Dennis Dietz (born c. 1927 in WA), and a sister, Virginia Dietz McNurlin (born c. 1916 in NE), resided in Seattle and Olympia, respectively, at the time of his death. Virginia worked full-time as a stenographer in 1940, and her sister, Olive, worked 25 hours per week as an elevator operator in a hospital. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T627_4383; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 40-328, accessed 03/09/2017.)

Spouse

Dietz married Sarah Jayne Perkins (d. 1973) in 1941.

He married Sally A. Kendall Hipp Dietz on 05/30/1981 in King County, WA. He met Sally Dietz on a golf course.

Children

Dietz had three sons, Alan, Carl, and Earl, who lived in NJ, NY and Spanaway, WA, respectively, in 2006.

Biographical Notes

Dietz was an avid and skilled golfer.

President, Sahalee Country Club, Redmond, WA,1979.

• Crofton, NE (Architect's Birth)
  Crofton, NE

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• Apache Junction, AZ (Architect's Death)
  Apache Junction, AZ

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