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ROGER JACOB DIELEMAN April 22, 1941-May 17, 2019 Roger Jacob Dieleman was born April 22, 1941, in Redding, CA. The family moved to Boulder City, when he was two weeks old. He grew up in Boulder City and excelled in sports, especially football. Roger attended The University of Nevada Reno and graduated with a degree in business finance. It was there that he met and married Cheryl Fallon. They had two children, Rob and Mike. He worked with Jake's Crane and Dielco Crane; was a long time member of the International Union of Operating Engineers and was vested in three different locals. He was an amazing, hands on, rugged talent in the heavy lift and haul industries and prevailed as a master crane operator, heavy haul expert and was clairvoyant at figuring the most challenging jobs. In life he enjoyed the mountains in Southern Utah, Caliente and a comradery with the people who lived there. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jake and Ruth Dieleman. He is survived by his sons; three grandchildren; brothers, Richard and Bob; and sister, Kathie Coon. Visitation will be 4:30-7 p.m. Fri., May 31, at Sunset Gardens, 3931 E. Sunset Road, Las Vegas, NV 89120. Services will be at 11 a.m. Sat., June 1, at Grace Community Church, 1150 Wyoming Street, Boulder City, NV 89005. A luncheon for family and friends will be at the Boulder City Elks Lodge, 1217 Nevada Hwy. Boulder City, NV 89005. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity and have a toast in celebration of his life.
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Karl Miller (1961)
Roger and Danny Ahlstrom and I were at a dance at the Teenage Club in Boulder one Friday night when Danny and I decided we wanted to retaliate for the treatment we had received the prior weekend when we were staying in St. George, Utah while Danny's mother was having some work done on a house she owned and rented out in a little town located a little further up the Virgin River. Danny and I had been treated in a very 'unfriendly' manner when we ventured out with the Ahlstrom family's '57 Ford station wagon to a teenage dance, maybe even a Church sponsored one. We received smiles from the girls, but angry stares and nuckle cracking from the guys, so we left the dance, and then cruised main street a bit. But we must have been followed out of the dance, or maybe we were conspicuous because of the Nevada plates, as were frequently getting verbally challenged. We decided the odds were rather overwhelming, and retreated back to the motel room. Again we must have been followed, as cars would occasionally drive through the motel parking lot to where the car was parked, reve up their engines, burn rubber, and launch a few empty beer cans. Danny's mother was puzzled by the commotion, but never connected the dots. Danny and I continued watching Perry Mason on the TV, and played dumb.
Getting back to Friday night at the Teenage Club, being aware of the nearby construction on the new auditorium at BCHS, we asked Roger if he wanted to take his '56 Ford pickup on a bit of a 'road trip.' Despite being good looking and a star on the football team, Roger was awkward and shy around girls, so he said 'sure.' We stopped at the construction site and borrowed a large galvanized mixing tub and some bags of lime, then hit the road.
The highway to St. George at that time was a sometimes narrow and curvy two way affair over Utah Mountain instead of a freeway through the Virgin River Narrows, so we were able to conviently stop along the Santa Clara River just before arriving in St. George, and, greatly due to Roger's strength, we filled the tub with water and drove into town looking for a target.
There was a large "D" on a mountainside that we thought of turning into a "B," but we decided the illumination from several spot lights made that location a poor choice. Then we noticed the white DIXIE carefully painted on the bright red cliffs overlooking St. George, and eventually located a road that went to an overlooking location. We carried the tub to the edge, dumped in the lime, and mixed it as well as possible using a shovel. Then we dumped the white slurry over the top of the cliff, hoped that it went where we wanted it to, threw the tub back into the back of the truck, and quickly left town.
We were back in Boulder City in time to arrive home at a normal 'after a teenage club dance' time. And, not being social butterfly types, our absences from the dance may not even have been noticed should anyone have bothered to check with the other attendees. We had established our allibis by being there at the start.
When I moved to Cedar City, Utah a few years later to attend the then College of Southern Utah, now Southern Utah, I learned that our escapade had occurred on the same night the Cedar City and St. George HS basketball teams were playing a 'bitter rivalry' game in St. George, AND that the shape of the cliff on which the DIXIE had been placed was such that the flow of our lime slurry had formed a large crude "C" over the top of it. This apparently resulted in a number of fisticuffs, as the boys from Cedar City Immediately claimed credit for what they considered to have been a rather well deserved disrespectful act. None of the locals ever considered the possibility of a BCHS involvement.
I now look back with fascination at Roger's remarkable good nature, and his willingness to go on this mischevious, and potentially dangerous, spontaneous adventure. God Bless Roger, and thanks for some good times. Karl Miller
Robert Scott (1959)
Karl Miller? Are you the same mild mannered and studious Karl Miller that attended BYU in 1964-65 and was was married to Sharon Strong?? Doesn't sound like the same guy! But then I'm not the same guy as back then either. I just remembered something about Timpanogas cave in the mountains outside Provo--something you did in the dark.
Robert Scott