Ms. Tonya Nicole Dietrich, daughter of Thelma Elizabeth Dietrich and the late Gilbert Anthony Dietrich, Sr was born April 13, 1980 in Fredericksburg, Va. She loved her parents above all else.
Tonya graduated Buckhannon-Upshur High School in 2001. She previously attended public schools in Stafford County, Va. where she made friends with students and teachers whose memories carried her through the rest of her life. Tonya lived the past 9 years in Terra Alta, W.Va.
She quietly departed this life Friday, January 3, 2020 at Garrett Regional Medical Center in Oakland, Maryland after complications with pneumonia.
Tonya was born with Down Syndrome and was a kind and loving soul with a great sense of humor. She had a big smile and loved to laugh and joke around and listen to music. She enjoyed her angel collection and naming the person who gave each angel.
Family was most important to her. But she loved to make friends everywhere she went with greetings of “knock,” “teek,” “Luther,” and “knucklehead.”
Her beautiful life will forever be cherished by devoted family members: sister, Angela Ford, her husband Bill Ford with children MacKenzie, Nick, and Noah of Parkville, Md., sister Michelle Dietrich with children David, Cody, and Brittany of Dunnsville, Va., brother Tony Dietrich, his wife April Dietrich with children Isaac, Nathan, and Hannah of Troutdale, Va., brother TJ Dietrich of Fredericksburg, Va., brother Gary Dietrich, his wife Janet Dietrich with children Jacob and Carly with husband Trevor of Fredericksburg, Va., brother Steven Dietrich and his wife Becky Dietrich of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Memorial donations may be sent to: Easter Seals UCP North Carolina & Virginia 5171 Glenwood Ave., Suite 211 Raleigh, NC 27612 https://www.easterseals.com/NCVA/ways-to-give/ in her memory.
Friends will be received Monday, January 6, 2020 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Poling-St. Clair Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held 1 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home with Pastor Ed Lowther officiating. Burial will follow in the Bailey Cemetery in Buckhannon.
Online condolences may be made to the family at www.polingstclair.com. Poling-St. Clair Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
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