Kimberly Diehl

AIKEN - Kimberly Diehl, 48, died Thursday, July 5, 2012 at her residence after a courageous fight against cancer. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 AM Tuesday, July 10 in the Shellhouse-Rivers Funeral Home chapel. Reverend Wes Holbrook officiating. The family will receive friends following the service at the funeral home. Family and friends are invited to a reception celebrating Kim's life at 7 PM at Charlie Herrick's farm in Aiken. Kimberly Marie Diehl was born in South Beloit , Illinois . Her father, the late Harold L. Diehl, was an architect, and her mother, the late Virginia Diehl, was a retail business owner. Kim learned very early in life to be charitable to others, as she often accompanied her mother to Floburg Children’s Home. There the two distributed holiday gifts donated to the Home thanks to the year-long efforts of her mother. On Thanksgiving Day at the Diehl family home, it was not unusual to have 20 dinner guests in addition to serving the immediate family. Those with no family, with nowhere else to go, and even from nearby nursing homes were served dinner and included in the celebration. The church, the unfortunate, and neighbors, family, and friends always looked forward to the family’s fall harvest party. As a child, Kim started riding at Ledges Stables in Rockton , Illinois . Kim started winning in competitions at the tender age of 7 and she continued to ride all through school. She went to college at Southern Seminary in Buena Vista , Virginia , (now Southern Virginia University). There she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education as well as an associate degree. She was captain of the riding team for three years. One of her teammates was Beezie Patton (Madden) who went on to great equestrian fame. The Southern Seminary team won national championships during Kim’s years on the team. After college, Kim taught business law and equine business management at Southern Seminary and was the riding coach. Kim eventually married and moved to Lexington , Virginia , where she started her own riding school called Rosden. There she taught children ages 3 to 18, passing along her talents to a budding generation. Kim’s love for dogs started at the age of 2 when her sister Peggy gave her a German Shepherd named Jingles. Later in life, Kim started rescuing dogs and giving them a caring home. (Today all of Kim’s dogs and cats are rescues.) Kim moved to Aiken because of its sporting life in 1998. Here she started Rosden Stables – Aiken, and enjoyed a very successful showing career. In 2000 Kim moved Rosden Stables to the Clark Barn on Mead Avenue . Kim then remarried and moved to Polo Alley on Highway 302, where she began showing her favorite horse, Reno . In 2000 on Harmony Heights , she won the Open Hunter Classic at the Aiken Horse Show in the Hitchcock Woods. In 2003 on Reno, she won the Foxhunter Winners Stakes. Following this victory, Kim began volunteering at the Aiken Steeplechase and at the Aiken Horse Show, where the committee agreed that her energy and enthusiasm were unparalleled. In recent years, Kim bought and managed the Bone-i-fied Bakery, a specialty shop in downtown Aiken where she continued to improve the lives of dogs and the people they own. She is survived by her sisters, Peggy Greene, of Orlando, FL, Diane Lillian Leombruni, and brother-in-law Phillip Leombruni of Rockford, IL, her aunt, Andy Diehl of South Beloit, IL , her former sister-in-law Molly Diehl of Colorado, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins; her former husband Charlie Herrick and former step children, Sloan Herrick and Charles A. Herrick, Jr. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Danny Diehl and an aunt, Violet Bowen. In lieu of flowers, please direct memorials to the Aiken SPCA, 401 Wire Rd., Aiken, SC 29801, or the Savannah River Cancer Foundation, P.O. Box 3694, Aiken, SC 29802. The live webcast of Kim's service can be viewed by visiting http://app.eventbywire.com/viewevent/?id=775-317 SHELLHOUSE-RIVERS FUNERAL HOME, INC., 715 E. PINE LOG RD., AIKEN, SC To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Kimberly Diehl, please visit our flower store.