Germaine Kresser Dietsch

Germaine Dietsch, loving mother, sister, wife and non-profit founder of Spellbinders, an organization whose novel storytelling programs connect seniors and children, has died at age 89 in Denver, CO

Born in 1932 in Flintridge, CA, Germaine was the second child of Charles and Forrest Kresser and sister to Fred, Lynette, Suzanne and Bob. She attended Mayfield High School and University of California at Berkeley, where she was initiated into the California chapter of Pi Beta Phi.

While at Berkeley, Germaine met Alfred Dietsch who would become her lifelong soulmate. After marrying in 1953, Al and Germaine moved to Cambridge, MA, where Al earned a law degree at Harvard and they had their first child, Al Jr. (Kresser). In the late fifties, they moved back to Southern California and began raising their four children in West LA and Brentwood. Following the death of their youngest son, Paul (9), in 1972, from a congenital heart defect, the family relocated from Los Angeles to Greenwich, CT before moving to Colorado in the late 1980s where she lost her oldest son, Kresser (37) to cancer.

At age 51, Germaine earned a master’s degree in Theater Arts and a certificate in Gerontology from the University of Denver with a goal of helping seniors maintain a sense of purpose and meaning in their lives as they aged. Soon she became the founder of Spellbinders (www.spellbinders.org), an award-winning organization focused on intergenerational storytelling in schools. Her vision manifested with the help of two professional storytellers from West African and Jewish heritage, respectively, who worked with Germaine to develop a training program where seniors were taught the art of oral storytelling then assigned to elementary school classrooms where they told stories. It was a magical formula. Children entered a “story trance,” keeping steady eye contact, staying quiet and demonstrating a hunger to know what happened next, while seniors experienced a rejuvenated sense of well-being and community involvement. By 1991, the Governor of Colorado recognized Spellbinders as a Partner in Education. From there Spellbinders blossomed into a nationally recognized and award-winning organization, whose nearly five hundred volunteer storytellers still make an impact in three states and 14 chapters today.

Germaine also loved hiking, skiing, reading, gardening, and listening to music at the Aspen Music Festival, where her husband Al was a chair and lifetime trustee (Al also worked with Germaine to get Spellbinders off the ground). She is remembered as a gentle soul who cared deeply about her own family as well as others, with a lifelong dedication to service and a sense of genuine kindness that she maintained to the last. Her long residency in Aspen (1980 – 2013) was marked by her deep love of the mountains, appreciation for rich friendships and an unwavering commitment to local communities reflected by her formation of the Roaring Fork chapter of Spellbinders. Germaine is survived by her husband, Al; her brother, Bob (Roseanne) Kresser of Manhattan Beach, CA; her children Gretchen Dietsch (Neil Carbank) Calhoun, of Aspen (and Rick Calhoun of Denver, CO); John (Mollie) Dietsch of Pacific Palisades, CA, and five beloved grandchildren; one great grandchild; and over 20 nieces, nephews, and their children. She is predeceased by her sons Kresser (1993) and Paul (1972); her brother Fred (1983); and sisters Suzanne (2002) and Lynette (2021).

In honor of Germaine’s long commitment to storytelling, a memorial fund has been created to benefit her legacy at Spellbinders (www.coloradogives.org/spellbinders). Her memorial is in planning for the Spring of 2022.