Fritz Dietl Skating Rink Matriarch Dies at 80

BY TOM CLANCEY
OF PASCACK PRESS

PASCACK VALLEY AREA, N.J.—Carola Dietl, the longtime proprietor of Fritz Dietl Skating Rink in Westwood, died last week. She was 80.

The Hillsdale resident was the beloved wife of Fritz, a Vienna-born figure skating icon, for whom the Westwood rink is named. Carola Dietl operated the skating rink on Broadway for the last 60 years, according to her obituary, alongside her sons Ernst and Gregory. She was born in Berlin, Germany, and came to Hillsdale in 1958.

Their family built the rink in Westwood in 1958, where it has served generations of Pascack Valley residents as a unique local attraction. Fritz Dietl’s early successes as a European figure skater brought him to America in 1939, where he toured in the “Hollywood Ice Revue,” often gliding, jumping and spinning around on 18-inch high stilt skates.

In a now legendary story, Fritz Dietl and future bronze medalist Scott Allen—his student—skipped a Team USA figure skating flight to the 1961 World Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia, because the Westwood rink’s machinery was malfunctioning, opting to take another flight the following day. The team’s plane then crashed on its approach to Brussels, killing every member and its coaching staff. Fritz Dietl and Allen survived, and Fritz continued to operate the skating rink alongside Carola until his death in 2003.

Carola Dietl’s funeral will be Saturday, Jan. 26 at Becker Funeral Home in Westwood. In lieu of flowers, her family requested memorial donations be made to Ice Skating Institute Education Foundation, 17120 N. Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75248.