By Kevin Greer
Lakeside Communications Manager
It all added up for Richard “Dick” and Karen Dietz.
The couple has been coming to Lakeside with their family for 40 years. They bought a Lakeside home in 2014, made some renovations and have lived in the community year-round since 2018 after moving from Poughkeepsie, New York. They not only moved their belongings, but they also brought their business, D&D Tax and Accounting.
When Dick and Karen decided to relocate, they tossed ideas around, but they didn’t have to crunch any numbers to know Lakeside would be a popular choice with their family.
“Our kids thought it was a great idea because they all grew up here for two weeks out of the summer,” Dick said. “They love this place.”
Dick is a native of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and Karen is from Vienna, Virginia. They met while working at K-Mart in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Dick was transferred to Poughkeepsie and Karen went with him. They were engaged at the time and Karen bought her dress in a Johnstown store. She was going to wait to pick up her dress, but made a last-minute decision to pick it up before a trip back to Virginia. A couple days later, heavy rains caused a dam to fail and flooded downtown Johnstown, causing major damage to many businesses, including the bridal shop where she bought her dress.
“I thought, my gown is done and fitted,” Karen said. “Instead of taking it the next time I go, I’ll just put it in the car this time. Thank goodness because I wouldn’t have had a wedding dress.”
After getting settled in Poughkeepsie, Karen stayed in retail before going back to school and starting a teaching career. Dick moved on to New York Life Insurance Company and still does part time work for them. He eventually started his own tax business 43 years ago and added the accounting side five years later. Karen helped typing the taxes.
D&D Tax and Accounting does personal, small business, corporate, trusts, estates and other services. Over the years, the company grew to 200 clients and five businesses. Even after the move to Lakeside, 180 stayed on. He picked up 10 additional customers from Ohio, including The Kite Shop in Lakeside. When Karen retired, she took over the accounting and Dick just did the taxes.
Dick and Karen are avid shuffleboard players and members of the Lakeside Shuffleboard Club. They welcome their children, both adopted from South Korea, every summer for two weeks. Their son got married in Lakeside in 2019.
“We have two granddaughters who both love this place,” Karen said. “The family comes up every year, so we still have this two-week family time. It’s just so peaceful.”
It’s not just family paying visits. They have friends from New York who quickly understood why Lakeside was the annual vacation spot.
“After taking a bike ride around Lakeside, our friend said, ‘I hope heaven is like this, because this is heaven.’” Karen said. “When you’re here, you kind of like just lose all your problems.”
Dick added, “We really enjoy it and there are great people here. I like the peace and quiet. It’s just such a beautiful place.”
Special thanks to D&D Accounting for being a Corporate Sponsor for the Sesquicentennial Celebration.
