James Dickriede

James ‘Jim’ Michael Dickriede, born on February 3, 1954, in Cleveland, Ohio, passed away peacefully at Cleveland’s Veterans Administration Hospital on March 31, 2025.

As a youngster, Jim was quite athletic and very, very fast. (Certainly not something you can say about the rest of the Dickriede bloodline.) There were a ton of kids in the St. William parish in the 1960s and team sports, especially CYO football, were very popular. Jim excelled at running back. Later in life Jim enjoyed bowling and golf.  Though an indifferent student throughout his school years, Jim was easily the smartest of the Dickriede brood. Somewhat of a renaissance man, Jim played the clarinet (poorly) in the St. Joseph marching band and was a dancer in the school’s annual spring musicals. 

Jim honored his parents (Rudy 1972 and Rose 2010) with kindness and respect, and by always being a loving son.

Jim shared an unbreakable bond with his three brothers (Ed, Pat and Dan); one that will continue as we move forward without him.

Jim loved the women in his life— Rosemary (Ed), Donna (Pat), Becky and Kathy (Dan). And, we can say with great certainty, he knew that you loved him.

Jim reveled in the accomplishments of his five nephews--Brandon, Nathan, Ryan, Michael, and Murphy, and his niece Jaclyn. He was keenly interested in their lives; remarking of how proud our father Rudy, who they were never able to meet, would have been of each of them.

Jim’s strongest friendships started in his high school years.  Two of those friends--Tim Gorman and Chris McCauley—passed years ago. We can picture those three together now sharing a beer and, knowing those knuckleheads, probably passing something around among themselves. But it was Jim’s 50+ year friendships with Tim Davis, John Hogan, Pat Murphy and Mickey Prankas that meant the most to him.  It would have been easy to drift away from Jim during those difficult years when he was in his 20s and 30s.  But they never wavered.  They always kept reaching out and always included him.  We enjoyed watching your friendship with Jim, and the Dickriede brothers will always be thankful that you were on Jim’s team.   Old friendships are like gold!

Naval Career

If you asked Jim, we think he would point to his six years in the Navy as some of the most meaningful times of his life.

         After enlisting in March of 1973, he attended boot camp in San Diego, California, followed by additional training at the Navy’s Great Lakes Training Center outside of Chicago, where he graduated as a Machinist Mate First Class, SS. 

         Jim was then sent to the Navy’s Nuclear School in Vallejo, California for six months of more technical training.

         Next up was a year of training at the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Training Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

         Upon completion of the course work, Jim was assigned to stay on in Idaho for an additional two years where he served as Lead Staff Instructor for the next wave of seamen.

In 1977, Jim reported to the Navy’s deep-water submarine naval station in Groton, Connecticut where he served on the U.S. Archer Fish—the Navy’s premier class of nuclear attack submarines. Over the course of two years, Jim undertook two deployments, the first for 250 days, the second for 255 days.  505 days total.  75-80% of the time underwater.   As Jim described it: “letting the Russians know that the U.S. Navy controls the North Atlantic and Mediterranean waters.”

Jim retired from the Navy in 1979 as Petty Officer 2nd Class.

Well, done Veteran! Well, done!!

A Poem

We’d like to close with a short poem from a Washington D.C. native, and who like Jim, navigated his adult life through the challenging filter of schizophrenia.

But first let us set up the poem.  Over the course of Jim’s life, if he was asked about his health and how he was doing, he would invariably respond: “No major complaints….. no major complaints”.

A simple sentiment simply delivered that captured his resilient nature.

Please refrain from remarking

I’m in some Better Place

‘cause for life on this earth,

 I never had no complaints.

Philip F. Welsh

In keeping with Jim’s wishes, funeral services will be held at Corrigan-Deighton Funeral Home at 21900 Euclid Ave, Euclid, OH 44117 on Saturday, April 5th.  Visitation begins at 4:00 with Blessings and Prayers at 6:00. Rev. Heidi Welch officiating.  Please join the Dickriede Family afterward at the East Side Irish-American Club, 22770 Lake Shore Blvd, Euclid, OH 44123 for a proper Irish celebration of Jim’s life.

Finally, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation to the Cleveland Veterans Affairs medical professionals for providing outstanding health care support to Jim for 45+ years. We also want to thank Jamie, Mary, Tanya, Julie and all the other angels at the VA’s Heroes Harbor Hospice for their love and kindness for Jim in his final days

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of James Dickriede, please visit our floral store.