Jo Bess Dieckmann

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Visitation Schedule
Roller McNutt Funeral Home
Conway, AR  
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
6:00PM to 8:00PM
Service Schedule
Graveside Service
Crestlawn Memorial Park
Conway, AR  
Thursday, May 28, 2020
10:00AM
Jo Bess Dieckmann

of Higden, AR

January 25, 1935 - May 21, 2020

Jo Bess Dieckmann, 85, of Conway, AR, went to be with the Lord Thursday May 21, 2020.

There are many words that describe our mother. She was many things to many people.

Respected, she was considered a mentor by many of her nurses. She taught by example, her way of doing things was not optional. She was a good diagnostician, woe to the doctor who thought she was just a nurse and that her opinion was worth little.
Industrious, her spirit was looking for work to do even as her body failed her. She often asked what she was supposed to be doing. Relaxing was not an acceptable answer. Her nurses can attest that there was no downtime in the ER. If there were no patients, it was time to clean.

Goofy, she attracted eccentric people like a magnet. We didn't say she was crazy but, craziness seemed to find her. For example, she brought home the dog of a patient who thought it was a good idea to color her dog with pink lipstick.

Talented, she loved to paint and cook. While maybe her art wasn't top tier, her cooking was but we are biased.

Blessed, she had the love of two good men, our father Fred Dieckmann, and our stepfather Conrad Desilets.

Samaritan, she was a dedicated nurse who spent 22 years caring for the sick while running the ER in Conway. She returned to nursing after a hiatus in her education to raise my brother and me. She took her LPN test after a decade and a half since her last class at Texas Women's College in Dallas. She became an RN shortly afterward, having finished her nursing studies at State College of Arkansas, now UCA. Even during her hiatus many neighbors knew who to come to for advice and help.

Graveside services will be held on Thursday May 28, 2020 at 10:00AM at Crestlawn Memorial Park. Visitation will be on Wednesday May 27, 2020 at Roller McNutt Funeral Home, Conway from 6:00PM to 8:00PM.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to St. Jude Childrens Hospital or the Salvation Army.

We are complying with the Arkansas Department of Health in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 by limiting indoor funerals and visitation to 50 people in the building at a time. All attendees must provide and wear their own masks before entering.

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2 Condolence(s)
Patty Battles
Greenbrier, AR
Liked
Tuesday, May 26, 2020

I was saddened to learn of Jo 's passing. She was a coworker, a boss, a mentor, a surrogate mother, and a dear friend. I learned a lot from her and she wasn't the easiest teacher that I ever had, but I soon learned that there were three ways of doing anything, the right way, the wrong way, and Jo's way. And in spite of my attempts to differentiate what made Jo's way the best way, it always was. There was simply no shortcuts in Jo's house. She ran a tight ship. I will miss her, but will always cherish her memory.

Betty Dunn
Little Rock, AR
Liked
Monday, May 25, 2020

Jo Bess was my friend. Each of us admired the best qualities of the other; we sometimes disagreed but remained friends. I will miss her, miss knowing she is at home in a place I helped her move into with her husband Fred.
She helped me bury my beloved husband and recover from his loss. I pray that I helped her when she lost Fred. We spent time together each lonesome for our husbands. I am not sure she ever recovered from that loss.
I knew how very daring she was when I took her to the airport to meet a stranger in Las Vegas , a man she did not know who would eventually become her second husband Con. I was scared, concerned for her safety, but she brought a new husband home who made 15 years of her life happy and less lonesome than it would have been alone.
I will think of her, if not daily, then often and remember how we cried together many times, played together, planted flowers from my mother's yard, laughed at many things, sometimes hysterically and in quieter moments cooked for each other. I loved her. Rest in peace my friend with Fred whom you missed so much.