The loss of a longtime Creek County Ambulance manager left a big hole in the hearts of those who worked with her.
Rita Diehl leaves behind a huge legacy. She served her community in Creek County for almost 40 years and helped improve medical services statewide.
His legacy in the Creek County ambulance service spans 39 years. For the past 21 years, she has been a director. The people who worked with her, like Kerry Harlin and Charity Walters, have lost more than a mentor, they feel like they have lost their families.
âShe made the job fun,â Harlin said. âNot only did she teach me how to do the job that I have now, but she taught me how to be a better person. We were kind of family and she wanted it to be that way.
Walters and Harlin said Diehl had been instrumental in building Creek County Ambulance until it was today. A pink ambulance in honor of breast cancer survivors was one of her last great contributions.
Harlin said Diehl wanted his team to have the best.
âShe was awesome, she was a great friend and will be missed,â said Harlin.
Walters said her caring spirit extends far beyond the workplace.
“She loved horses, animals, she welcomed all animals that came to her house and those animals never left,” she said.
Diehl was one of the county’s first female paramedics and was very influential in the EMS community, but she worked to improve the service as a whole.
At one point, she was named president of the Oklahoma Ambulance Association and also served on Gov. Brad Henry’s EMS task force.
âIt’s quite a legacy,â said Harlin.
Visitations for Diehl are Sunday at Green Hill Funeral Home in Sapulpa.