Joannis (John) Didion was born February 1, 1849 in Schiffweiler, Landkreis Neunkirchen, Saarland, Germany. John was the first born child of eleven known children of Joannis (John) Didion (1819 - ??) and Catharina Ley (1826 - 1871) of Schiffweiler, Landkreis Neunkirchen, Saarland, Germany.

John Immigrated to the United States of America along with his wife, Marie Bechtel Didion, and their four very young children, Joannes III (John), born 1874, Jacobus, born 1876, Maria (Mary Ann), born 1878 and Anna Margaretha (Annie), born 1880. The Didion family left Germany and traveled to Antwerp, Belgium, and boarded the Belgian Steamer "De Ruyter" for the United States of America. They departed Belgium on May 10, 1881, and arrived at Port of Entry, New York, New York on the Belgian Steamer "De Ruyter" on May 21, 1881.

Also traveling to America with the John & Marie Bechtel Didion Family was John's younger brother Petrus (Peter) Didion, born 1868, and Marie Bechtel Didion's younger brother Ludwig (Louis) Bechtel, born 1862. John Didion's younger sister Catharina Didion Jochum, born 1853, and her husband Joannis Nicolaus Jochum, born 1848, along with their three very young children, Catharina Jochum, born 1874, Jacobus Jochum, born 1875, and Nicolaus Petrus Jochum, born 1879. The families all made their homes in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia.

Joannis (John) Didion, age 24, and Maria (Marie) Bechtel, age 16, were married July 31, 1873 in the Diocese of Trier, Catholic Church, in Schiffweiler, Landkreis Neunkirchen, Germany. John and Marie had nine children.

John Didion was a Coal Miner in Schiffweiler, Landkreis Neunkirchen, Germany before immigrating to America and continued on as a Coal Miner in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. He died of Tuberculosis at age 51. The spelling "Joannis" is old Latin for John.

Information provided from the genealogical records of Ron Didion, Wheeling, West Virginia.