Kern County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....Dittman, William Edward "Bill" July 7 2004
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K Taylor bluewolf@onemain.com July 10, 2004, 2:20 pm

The Bakersfield Californian 
William Edward Dittman "Bill"
11/13/1922 07/07/2004

Funeral services for William Edward "Bill" Dittman will be held on Monday, 
July 12, 10:00 a.m. at Paso Robles District Cemetery, 45 Lake Nacimiento 
Drive. Bill was born in Alhambra, California on November 13, 1922 to Cyril Red 
and Pauline Dittman. He spend most of his early life in Kern County and 
graduated from Kern Union High School (now Bakersfield High) in 1940. Bill 
served in the U.S. Army during WWII from 1942 to 1945, including 8 months in 
Europe, where he worked as an Army Air Corps flight instructor and later as a 
linesman in the Signal Corps. After leaving the Army, he attended Cal Poly, 
San Luis Obispo, where he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. 

Bill joined General Petroleum, a predecessor of Mobil Oil, in 1948 as an 
engineering trainee in the Vernon Lab in Los Angeles. He held a variety of 
engineering and management positions with General Petroleum and Mobil during 
his 37 year career. He retired from Mobil in 1985 as Operations Manager for 
the Paso Robles District, which included San Ardo, Lost Hills, Ventura and the 
Sacramento Valley. Bill was the fourth generation in his family to work in the 
oil industry.

Bill was an avid sportsman his entire life and enjoyed spending time outdoors 
with family and friends. While growing up, he and his brother Jack spent much 
of their time hunting, fishing and packing in the hills around Bakersfield and 
the Sierras. Later, as his family grew, he made sure that most family 
vacations included some fishing and at least one stop at a sporting goods 
store along the way. Some of his fondest memories were times spent with his 
close friend Floyd Grigory hunting quail, dove, deer or whatever wandered 
across their path. When he retired, he was able to live out his lifelong dream 
of traveling to some of the best fly-fishing spots in the world including New 
Zealand, Argentina, Costa Rica, Alaska, Florida and Montana. As much as he 
enjoyed fishing, he seemed to enjoy talking to other fly fisherman just as 
much, discussing which hatch was taking place, which fly worked best, etc. It 
is hard to think of Bill for very long without picturing him with either a fly 
rod or shotgun in his hands.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Red and Pauline and his first wife 
of 24 years, Patricia. He is survived by his second wife, Lina; brother, Jack 
and wife, Beverly; his and Patricias children, Jim and wife, Mary, Jeff and 
wife, Denise, Kathy Kerwin and husband, Kraig; grandchildren, Alyssa, Jennifer 
and Stephanie Dittman, Kayla Botts and Jordan and Andrew Kerwin; and 
stepchildren Ron Papes and Victoria McBride.

In lieu of flowers, the family request donations in his name to the American 
Cancer Society.

Visitation will be at Greenlawn Southwest Mortuary, 2739 Panama Lane, in 
Bakersfield, on Sunday, July 11, from 5:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m.

Greenlawn Southwest Mortuary

Funeral Directors 


Additional Comments:
Volunteer submission - No relation to deceased.

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