Gordon Dittemore, a 51 year resident of Redlands, died June 13 surrounded by his loving family. He was born in Colorado Springs, CO on Sept 11, 1925 and grew up on the family ranch, “Dittemore Gulch”, near Lake George, CO.

He enlisted in the US Navy in 1943, and was assigned to V-5 Naval Aviation. While stationed in Los Angeles, he meet his vivacious and beautiful wife, Helen Delliquadri at UCLA in 1945. They married in 1948 in Westwood, CA.

After graduating from USC in Civil Engineering, he spent 5 years with the US Bureau of Reclamation on Shasta Dam. He later worked for North American Aviation and TRW building missile engine test facilities, designing and developing Minuteman & Peacekeeper missiles, the ASWFORPAC test site in Pearl Harbor, HI., the MILSTAR satellite program and supporting the Salt II & Start talks.

He retired in 1989. Gordon was famous for his playful, teasing sense of humor, his resourcefulness and was known as a great problem solver. He’d often state “piece of cake!” Other charming sayings: “good enough for gov’t. work”; “sold American”; “you’re in deep yogurt”, but best of all, “she’s a keeper”!

Gordon enjoyed pursuing his many hobbies: hiking, gardening, oil painting, woodworking, harp making, and photography. An avid reader, he also loved listening to music. For 12 yrs, he built sets for Footlighters Theater productions. Civic activities included Knights of Columbus, Knights of the Round Table, Marriage Encounter leader, Boy Scout leader and Eucharistic Minister. Gordon and wife Helens’ passion was world travel, especially visits to daughter Joyce & grandson Francesco in Tuscany, Italy.

Survivors include Joyce Dittemore of Monte San Savino, Italy, Anita Boling, PhD of Claremont, Denise Dittemore, MD and Kathleen Flemington, both of Highland, Joseph Dittemore of Beaumont, 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Visitation at Cortner Chapel, 221 Brookside Ave, Redlands, CA on Tues. June 19, 5-8 PM, with a Rosary at 7 PM. The funeral mass is at Holy Name of Jesus in Redlands on Wed. June 20 at 10 AM followed by services at Riverside National Cemetery at 12:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Alzheimer Research Foundation (alzfdn.org).

Local Riverside/San Bernardino obituaries and
death notices are generally provided by funeral homes and may be
edited for length by InstantRiverside.com. Basic obituaries
are published as a public service.