Biography: Kearney Dietz was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 14, 1932, and died on January 24, 2022. He was predeceased by his parents, father, Edward Gardner Louis Dietz, and mother, Harriet Kearney Dietz.

Kearney came to Little Rock with his family after high school graduation in June 1950. He attended Little Rock Junior College in the early 1950s and received a BA degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1983. He had a varied career in organizational management, banking, public relations and marketing, and commercial real estate. He retired in 2012 after spending 23 years as President of Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities.
He was a former chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities State Executives and was a Presiding Officer of the Foundation for Independent Higher Education. Both organizations are headquartered in Washington, D.C.  Earlier in his career, he served as President of the Mid-South Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and later served as the charter president of the Arkansas Chapter of PRSA. The Arkansas Chapter awarded Dietz its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

Active in state and community affairs, Dietz was a former member of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. He was a past president of the Little Rock Unit of the American Cancer Society, the Arkansas Arthritis Foundation, the Downtown Little Rock Kiwanis Club, and the Little Rock University Alumni Association. He was elected to the Little Rock School Board in the early 1970s and has been a part of the leadership of the United Way, and the YMCA. He became a member of Pulaski Heights Methodist Church in 1950. He was a long-time teacher of the Dietz Dialogue Class. In 2021, after serving as a choir member for 70 years, the choir room was named in his honor. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from UA Little Rock in 1990 and the Ira Brumley Award for Religious Education from Hendrix College in 2002.

Having grown up in Chicago, he was an avid Cubs fan – and raised his children and grandchildren to appreciate the game as well.  When the Cubs were in the 1945 World Series, he missed the game because he was having his appendix out. When the Cubs made it back to the World Series in 2016, Dietz and his son, Dee, made the trip to Chicago to watch Games 3, 4, & 5 against the Cleveland Indians. They made it back to Little Rock in time for Game 7 and the entire Dietz clan was together to watch their beloved Cubbies win the World Series.

His sense of humor, wise counsel, unconditional love and friendship will be missed by all. Due to his career, he knew everyone. Whenever he met someone new, he always wanted to know where they were from and where they went to school. Even when meeting a nurse at the doctor's office, he wanted to get to know them. He loved to tell jokes and stories. His personalized poems for every significant occasion in friends and family members’ lives will be truly missed. He was a friend and father figure to all.

Dietz was married to Floy Jean who died in 2014 in the 63^rd year of their marriage. Their children are Kathie Osborne (Fred) and Dee Dietz (Susan) of Little Rock. Five grandchildren include J. Dietz Osborne (Jenny) of Nashville, TN, Ginni Bracy (John) of Little Rock, Derek Osborne (Brenyn) of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, Amanda Scott (Joey), and Trip Dietz, both of Little Rock. The family also includes 10 great-grandchildren, Glancy and Lanie Piper-Osborne, Avery, Gentry, Ridge Agar, Carson Bracy, Ella, Anna Claire, and Emma Scott. Dietz is also survived by brothers James (Judi), North Little Rock, and Richard (Kay), Atlanta, Georgia, many nieces and nephews, and his special friend, Fae Seay. His sister Sherrin Wood (Dale) of Florence, Alabama died in 2007.
Memorials can be sent to the Kearney and Floy Jean Dietz Children’s Endowment of the Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church Foundation, 4823 Woodlawn Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205. The family would like to thank Dr. David Jones and his staff for the care they gave during these last several years.

Services will be held at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church on Friday, January 28, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. with a reception immediately following. Interment will be at the PHUMC Columbarium. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com