Berks business legend Verna Dietrich dies

When Verna Dietrich turned 90 in 2021, 1,500 people showed up for a birthday party and fireworks display at the Kempton Community Center.

Known throughout Berks County and beyond, she worked for 67 years at the Krumsville country store she founded with her late husband, Willard, in 1957.

On Wednesday Verna passed away at age 93, her son Marlin said Thursday.

Other than persistent knee problems, Marlin said, she was in relatively good health for her age.

“She was in her office every day,” he said, “working right up to the end.”

During a lifetime as one of the most visible personalities in the region’s Pennsylvania Dutch community, Verna touched the lives of many.

“Her passing marks the loss of one of the sturdiest pillars of the Berks County rural, farm, country, mountain and folkloric way of life,” said Dave Kline, author and country entertainer. “Her likes will not be seen again.”

Verna Dietrich was a friend who would chat with him in person or by telephone for hours at a time, said Kline, host of the Mountain Folk radio show and a Berks Country columnist.

He remembers her as a strong, self-made woman who rose from her family farm to co-found and lead one of the county’s most iconic and successful family-owned and operated enterprises.

“Rest in peace, Verna,” Kline said. “And look out God, if you’re not careful Verna will have all kinds of cakes and cookies to go with your speckwascht, blutwurst and Chucker partridges.”

Pride in products

Marlin, just 18 when his parents opened their country store, said pride in the products she made was the strength that sustained Verna through the years.

“She was all about quality,” he said. “And, she loved people.”

Verna Leiby grew up on a dairy farm in Windsor Township.

In 1952, she married Willard Dietrich. Together, they ran a farm, tended a huckster route and started a stand at Renninger’s Farmers Market in Kutztown. The family has had a stand at the Kutztown Folk festival for about 40 years.

With their sons — Marlin, Lynn and Glenn — they opened Dietrich’s Meats and Country Store along old Route 22 in Greenwich Township in 1957.

Bratwurst diplomacy

When a delegation from the German Bundestag visited the store about 10 years ago, Verna engaged in what might be called bratwurst diplomacy.

Sampling Dietrich’s signature Lebanon bologna, the Green Party’s Reinhard Butikofer declared the German-American delicacy a game-changer.

“The saying ‘cut the baloney’ takes on a completely different meaning here,” remarked Butikofer, then a member of the European Parliament.

Then-U.S. Rep.Charlie Dent of Lehigh County enticed the German visitors to sample one of Dietrich’s football-shaped Lebanon bologna specialties made annually for the Super Bowl.

A Pa. Dutch stalwart

Berks County Commissioner Christian Y. Leinbach, a lifelong friend, assessed Verna’s impact on the Pennsylvania Dutch community.

Verna ranked with Hamburg funeral director Domer Leibensperger and DeLight Breidegam, founder of East Penn Industries, as outstanding self-made Pennsylvania Dutch business owners, he said.

“She was the last of the true Pennsylvania Dutch business leaders in Berks County,” Leinbach said. “They all had pronounced Pennsylvania Dutch accents.”

Throughout her life, Verna pressed to keep the dialect alive, Leinbach said.

“Her long life reflected the essence of the region’s Pennsylvania Dutch flavor,” he said, recalling her Dutchy commercials on WEEU Radio. “Her mark will be on the family business for as long as it exists.”

Historian George M. Meiser IX mentioned Verna Dietrich several times in “The Passing Scene,” his 25-volume photo history of Berks County.

“She was a bigger-than-life personality,” Meiser said. “If she was in the room, you were keenly aware she was there.”

Verna left an indelible mark on the culture around Kempton, which is observing its 150th anniversary this year, Meiser said.

Once, when he was doing a book signing at Dietrich’s Meats, Meiser recalled Verna bringing him a plate of cold cuts.

“She was a kind person,” he said, “who always took time to have a conversation with you.”

Originally Published: August 8, 2024 at 5:05 p.m.