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William R. Diehl of Remsenburg died of pneumonia at Peconic Bay Medical Center on March 17. He was 92.
Mr. Diehl was born on March 9, 1922, in Loganville, Pennsylvania, to Mervin C. Diehl and Esther Lerew. He grew up in York, Pennsylvania, and after high school he went on to study at Oberlin Conservatory, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music.
He served in the U.S. Army toward the end of World War II and, after returning from Europe, completed a three-year program at the Juilliard Graduate School. He began his professional singing career in New York City with performances at Town Hall and with the Little Orchestra Society and Juilliard Opera Productions. He was a soloist on Sigmund Romberg’s recordings of “La Traviata” and “Othello” with Toscanini conducting.
Mr. Diehl also performed on numerous television shows of the 1950s, including “Hallmark Hall of Fame” and the Jane Froman, Jackie Gleason and Martha Wright shows. He was also in the original Broadway productions of “Allegro,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “South Pacific,” “The King and I” and “My Fair Lady.”
In the mid 1950s, the Broadway shows put together softball teams that would compete on Thursday afternoons in Central Park. Mr. Diehl was the pitcher for the “My Fair Lady” team and during the 1960 season, he struck out Paul Newman, Peter Falk and Walter Matthau in the same afternoon and won “MVP” that season. At the end of the season, an awards ceremony was held after midnight at the Astor Hotel, and large golden trophies were awarded, mimicking the Academy Awards, except after a few months the trophies rusted a bit. No one seemed to care, as it was all in fun, Mr. Diehl’s survivors said.
During that time he also attended Columbia University, where he completed his master’s degree in teaching and began a second career as choral director in the Garden City schools and a lecturer at Hofstra University. After retiring from teaching, he and his wife, Joan, traveled in Europe, Africa, the Orient and South America. In the early years of retirement, when he was in good health, he enjoyed going to the theater and the opera, and family times at the beach. Survivors said he was a wonderful, kind, gentle, loving man whose greatest loves in life were his family and music.
Mr. Diehl is survived by his wife of 55 years, Joan; four children, Lawrence of Virginia, Susan of Delanson, Jeffrey of New York City and Caroline of Virginia. He is also survived by one granddaughter and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by a brother, Burnell.
A memorial service is planned for the near future.
on Mar 24, 2014