Ex-Richardson Bay sanitary chief Frank Dittle oversaw changes across 30 years

Frank Dittle, who served nearly 30 years at the Richardson Bay Sanitary District and rose to district manager, died of cancer Aug. 7 at his home in Woodacre. He was 79.

Dittle joined the sanitary district in 1976 as a wastewater operator trainee and retired Dec. 31, 2005. He oversaw operations beginning about 1990 at the district that spans from Strawberry into Tiburon, stopping at Gilmartin Drive.

He was at the district when it ceased to be a treatment facility in 1986 and entered an operating alliance with the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin, the six-member wastewater-treatment agency that also includes Mill Valley and the unincorporated communities of Tamalpais Valley, Homestead Valley, Alto and Almonte.

Current district Manager Johnny Tucker, who was hired by Dittle in 1999 as a trainee operator and became manager in 2009, said learning from Dittle helped prepare him for eventually running the sanitary district. Tucker said Dittle would occasionally call to check in on how the district was doing or if Tucker had any questions.

Residents to this day ask Tucker if Dittle, known for his gravelly voice, still works at the district, nearly 20 years after his retirement.

“I like to tell people that I feel like he’s still working alongside me because I’ve run the place a lot like he did,” Tucker said.

Frank Thomas Dittle Jr. was born Dec. 18, 1945, in San Francisco to Frank Dittle Sr. and Frances Guth as the eldest of five sons, with brothers George, Pete, Steve and John. Dittle’s father, a clockmaker, was born in San Francisco and raised in Mill Valley, while his mother was born in Mountain View and raised in San Francisco.

Dittle Jr. grew up in Mill Valley, graduating from Tamalpais High School in 1963. From 1965 to 1967, he served in the U.S. Navy, enlisting during the Vietnam War, aboard the submarines USS Lapon and USS Kamehameha.

Following his Navy service, Dittle played a year of minor league baseball in the San Francisco Giants organization before returning to school. He earned bachelor’s degrees in physical education and business from San Francisco State University.

He married his wife, Jill, in 1996 in Lake Tahoe, and they had two sons together, Sean and Craig Tupper.

Craig Tupper said by email his dad loved to spend time with his four grandchildren and would never miss any of their sporting events, adding that his dad was often “the only voice you could hear at a baseball game.”

Dittle “was always the most gregarious socially and knew everyone at social events, and all had a loving, memorable story about him,” Tupper said. “He had a knack for knowing and remembering important aspects of all his encounters and was a great people person.”

While working various jobs, Dittle met former district superintendent Max Graefe, who eventually hired him in 1976.

During Dittle’s tenure, environmental concerns became more widespread and impacted wastewater treatment, leading to treated water and sewage becoming cleaner before discharge into San Francisco Bay. The district used treated water to irrigate McKegney Green for a time and sold water to Caltrans for watering medians or to plumbers for hydrocleaning clogged drains.

District Office Manager Paula Pfeffer was also hired by Dittle, joining the district in 2000. Pfeffer, who grew up in Fairfax, had known Dittle since she was a child, as he coached her mother’s softball team.

She said Dittle was an extremely outgoing person with many friends who cared about his job and the community he served.

“He had a certain way of running things and it was by the book and go through every step and make sure that you’re doing it accurately,” Pfeffer said, adding that Dittle “did not cut corners.”

In his early tenure at the sanitary district in the 1970s, Dittle helped Graefe implement something previously uncommon among other sanitary districts: a recurring three-year cleaning program in which one-third of the district pipes would be cleaned every year, Tucker said.

When a pipe-inspection audit by the Environmental Protection Agency took place about 2007, Tucker said other neighboring districts that were audited were found to not have cleaned their pipes “as vigorously as we were.” That led to the agency using the Richardson Bay district as a cleaning benchmark for the area, and the sanitary district continues the practice today.

“I attribute that to Frank putting that program together and actually sticking with it for 20 or 30 years prior to anybody even knowing that was a thing,” Tucker said, later adding that Dittle knew how to budget pipe cleaning appropriately to ensure consistent maintenance. “So it’s pretty cool to be part of something like that.”

Tucker said Dittle also taught him about the community with “irreplaceable information,” having seen the Tiburon Peninsula develop during his time at the district. He was also keen on promoting from within.

Dittle was a good leader who knew how to keep his staff motivated, even if tough love was needed, Tucker said.

“He was a good guy,” Tucker said of Dittle. “He was fair, I’ll say that for sure. He was fair as a boss, and he was definitely a good buddy.”

Pfeffer said Dittle was not just a great boss, but “also a great mentor and a friend.”

“His leadership, guidance and positive influence will be forever etched into my memories,” she said.

Dittle is survived by wife Jill Dittle, sons Craig Tupper and Sean Tupper, four brothers and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; his father died in 2006, and his mother died in 2014 at age 100.

A celebration of life is planned for Sept. 9 at the Deer Park Villa in Fairfax. Donations can be made to By the Bay Health, formerly Hospice by the Bay, at bythebayhealth.org.

Reach Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634.