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Biography
Frank Sigel Dietrich (January 23, 1863 – October 2, 1930) was a United States federal judge.
Born in Ottawa, Kansas, Dietrich received an A.B. from Brown University in 1887 and an A.M. from that institution in 1890. He taught Latin, history, and political science at Ottawa University in Kansas, and read law to enter the bar in 1891, and was an attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad from 1899 to 1907.
In 1907, Dietrich received a recess appointment from President Theodore Roosevelt on March 19 to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, vacated by the retirement of James H. Beatty. Formally nominated on December 3, Dietrich was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 17, 1907, and received his commission the same day.
In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge nominated Dietrich on December 22 for elevation to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, vacated by Wallace McCamant. Dietrich was again confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 3, 1927, and received his commission the same day. He served over three years, until his death in Boise from a heart attack at age 67 in 1930. Dietrich and his wife Martha (1873–1958) are buried at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
The town of Dietrich in rural Lincoln County was named after him shortly after he became a federal judge.