Sharon Diesselhorst, 77

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Sharon Diesselhorst, 77, of Litchfield (formerly of Alhambra), died Thursday, Nov. 11, at HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield following a brave battle with pneumonia.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 19, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Livingston. Family will greet visitors at the church prior to the service. She will be buried alongside her husband at Salem Cemetery in Alhambra.

Mrs. Diesselhorst was born on April 28, 1944, to Raymond and Evelyn McRill in Detroit, MI. She attended Roseville High School before moving with her family to Staunton in 1962. She worked as a waitress at the former HI Cafe on Old Route 66 before marrying Kenneth Diesselhorst of Alhambra, where the couple settled and raised two sons. She was also co-owner of the former Kiddie Korner daycare in Staunton.

Later, as a widow, she moved to the Evergreen Place Supported Living facility in Litchfield, which she called home and enjoyed an independent lifestyle until her latest illness. She was popular among the fellow residents and staff at Evergreen Place. Mrs. Diesselhorst enjoyed crafting, crocheting and reading mystery novels. She was a loyal and proud “baseball mom” for her boys and remained a diehard St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan all her life. Mrs. Diesselhorst was devoted to her boys, grandchildren and great-grandson, whose visits were unfortunately curtailed due to the pandemic.

Mrs. Diesselhorst is survived by her sons, Kenneth and Keith; grandchildren, Dillon, Jessica, Alyssa and Dane; great-grandson, Riley; sister, Sue (Wayne, deceased) Bruhn; sisters-in-law, Dorothy McRill, Carol (Jim) Gibbons, Dianne (Don) Price and Jenny Diesselhorst; brother-in-law, David (Sheila) Diesselhorst; and many nieces and nephews who fondly called her “auntie.”

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; and brother Richard.