Funeral for Diedrich Held in San Diego
A funeral service for Ralph A. Diedrich, the powerful Orange County supervisor of the 1970s who resigned after his conviction for bribery and conspiracy, was held Wednesday morning at El Camino Memorial Park Chapel in San Diego.
His ashes will be inurned at the cemetery during private ceremonies, a mortuary spokesman said.
Wednesday’s service was officiated by the Rev. Kathy Hearn of La Jolla. The family requested that no further information be made public, Hearn said.
Diedrich was 64 and reportedly died of cancer. Friends said he had suffered a heart attack and two strokes shortly before his death Friday.
He is survived by his wife, Inez; three sons, Patrick and Jeff, both of San Diego, and Timothy of Fullerton; four grandchildren; a brother, Gene of Vista; and two sisters, Betty Knesel of Mission Viejo and Ruth Hard of Fullerton.
Diedrich, who became a millionaire through land development, entered politics in 1966 when he was elected to the Fullerton City Council. He was elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 1972. He almost immediately took control of the board and, according to prosecution evidence, solicited a bribe within his first month in office.
He was convicted of bribery in 1979 and served nearly 2 years in a minimum-security prison before moving to San Diego, never to return to Orange County.
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