Alta May Northam

That is Alta May to the left and her sister Mabel D. Northam (pronounced May bell) to the right. Mabel was born in 1893 in Lawrence County, Mo. and she passed away July 23, 1897 also in Lawrence Co. She is buried next to her father in the Miller Memorial Gardens Cemetery located in Miller, Lawrence County, Mo.

Alta May had a charmed life, much loved and respected. Her husband, Burke Burnet Dietrich, was born in Oklahoma and had a touch of Indian in him, his mother was Kiowa, I don't know how much Kiowa, though. Alta met him through her older brothers, George and Bert, who worked for the railroad. Burke was a bookkeeper for the railroad most of his life. By 1930, he had progressed to a bookkeeper for a bank and began to make really good money for that time.On August 10, 1965, Burke was trying to back their car into their narrow drive and up to the garage (does anyone remember those really narrow driveways and garages built in the 40's and 50's? I do.) and Alta was guiding him in with instructions, when his foot slipped and hit the gas instead of the brake, running over Alta so severely her body went clear through the garage, wall to the house and into their dining room, killing her instantly. Burke never drove again after that.