News : Vinton area author, taxidermist and Christian speaker John Dieter dies at age 49

John Dieter

John Dieter often entered and placed in the National Duck Stamp competition.

The late John Dieter had a friend saved by Schindler; he visited the grave of the rescuer of Jews.

John Dieter barely survived the La Porte City grain bin explosion in 1981.

John and Victoria were married Sept. 19, 2009.

John Dieter’s short and difficult life was one for the books.

Books about grain explosions.

Books about faith.

But his story is told with more than words; it is also being told this week with photos.

Photographs of wildlife art and taxidermy. Photographs of his friends throughout the world. Photographs of John in the Ukraine, where he spoke to thousands of people.

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John Dieter died Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011. He was an author. He was a Christian minister, a speaker who shared with thousands throughout the world how his faith helped him overcome his adversity. He was a friend to Jewish people in many parts of the Ukraine. His story inspired thousands of them, and he helped hundreds to return to their native Israel. He had a friend who was saved by Oskar Schindler during the Holocaust.

He was my neighbor, although I only really talked to him in professional settings, across the desk while interviewing him for newspaper articles.

He was only 49.

John died with a long list of places to go and people to help.

Funeral Services will be held 11:00 AM, Monday, February 7, 2011 at the River of Life Church in Cedar Rapids. Interment will be in Bear Creek Cemetery - Vinton. Visitation will be held from 1:00 - 5:00 PM, Saturday, February 5, 2011, Phillips Funeral Home, 212 E 6th. St.- Vinton.

John's web site, www.encouragement-for-life.com, shares information about places he had been and events where he had spoken. In addition to traveling to the Ukraine, he also went to Italy in 2009.

On Sept. 19, 2009, John married Victoria V. Udina, the daughter of Tanya and Vladimir Udin from Simferopol, Ukraine, in Simferopol, Ukraine in the Crimea near the Black Sea.

He titled his book “The Gift of Encouragement: Living Powerfully through Adversity.” Because he had spent so much time and had reached so many people in the Ukraine, he decided to have it translated into Russian.

He was also a man about whom many journalists – including me and my colleagues -- wrote stories.

In 1981, John – then age 19 – was working at the La Porte City Elevator when he was nearly killed in a grain dust explosion. More than 70 percent of his body was covered with third degree burns.

His recovery was long and painful. Because his hands and arms were severely burned, he needed to find something to do for therapy. He chose taxidermy. Soon he was preserving deer and other animals. Dozens of Iowa houses and even public places like nature centers have his work on display.

After his long recovery following that explosion, John established his Red Fox Taxidermy & Art Studio at his home between Vinton and Brandon. He entered many Duck Stamp contests, and often placed in the top 20.

Shortly before I began my career in journalism, John sent a newspaper a drawing which he had entered into the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Duck Stamp contest. A colleague who saw John’s work was intrigued and asked to interview John. That was a normal response among us media types; his story was very sincerely interesting, and in many ways.

Although John will be laid to rest this week, you can be sure his story will live on through the lives of people he has touched through his work and his words.

Survivors include John’s brother Mark, a Navy chaplain who ministers to U.S.service personnel, including Seabees, in Afghanistan; a brother, David, in California; and two sisters, Sharon Dieter, a nurse at Virginia Gay Hospital.; and Joanne, who lives near Rowley.

You can see some of John’s taxidermy HERE.