TOMS RIVER – It was said that former Superintendent Albert Dietrich accomplished a lot for the district without ever wanting accolades; and maybe it was his selflessness that made people want to honor him.
Dietrich served as superintendent from 1979 until 1991, and 10 of those years were in a building downtown. The “Albert Dietrich Building” is the new name for the site at Partnership Health Center at 54 Washington Street. Currently, the business offices are on Hooper Avenue.
Dietrich passed away earlier this year at 85. Family, friends, and township officials came out to a ceremony in his honor.
“A person that was honored as Toms River’s ‘Man of the Year,’ not once but twice, and led the Toms River School District as superintendent until he retired,” said interim Superintendent Stephen Genco before describing how Dietrich fully embodied Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “Man in the Arena” quote.
“When speaking to people about Mr. Dietrich, they described him as a true leader who led by example. Not someone with a huge ego but as somebody who truly cared about the people he served,” said Genco.
“Although I didn’t meet him,” said Genco, “I only have to know the type of person that he was from his daughter to know he was a special person. I have known [district Supervisor of Health] Deb [Schwartz] for a long time and she has always exemplified leadership in a personal and classful way.”
“It is prophetic that 54 Washington Street is now dedicated in his name, as this place is still taking care of teachers – really, all of us – through the Partnership,” Schwartz said. “I know my father is smiling today.”
A plaque reads: “Under Al’s leadership, the district received many awards for its outstanding achievements in the state of New Jersey. One of the awards Al was most proud of was the development of an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program. He received honors from President Reagan for this program.”
This was just one of the programs he founded, in addition to the Alternate School-State Model, Peer Program-National and State Model, Missing and Exploited Children’s Program, and lntergenerational Program.
Dietrich was hired as an English teacher on the intermediate level in 1963. He wrote the first teachers’ contract, served as chief negotiator, and became president of the Toms River Education Association.
Growing up in Newark, he enlisted in the Air Force where he won the American Spirit of Honor Medal for outstanding leadership. It is given to only one out of 40,000 basic trainees.
“The American Spirit Award recognizes an individual who best exemplifies the outstanding qualities of the American spirit, including teamwork, optimism, courage, and sacrifice, and who inspires the exploration and expression of these values through their own life and work,” said Toms River School Board President Joseph Nardini, a friend of Dietrich’s for nearly 40 years. “Well, that kind of sums up the person that Al was.”
Former Board of Education member Christopher Raimann started a petition to name the building which garnered hundreds of signatures.
The building is operated by the district but owned by the town. Toms River Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill, after joking about how persistent Raimann was about ensuring the building was named in honor of the school district and community ambassador, said that such relentlessness on Dietrich’s behalf was warranted, and that the honor was well deserved. Hill then presented Dietrich’s children with a certificate.
