Della M. Dale
April 19, 1925 ~ October 2, 2021 (age 96) 96 Years Old
Tribute
In Loving Memory Of
Della Mae Dale
April 19, 1925 – October 2, 2021
On the backside of life, one tends to reflect upon what gives eternal treasures. It has been said that the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. Today we mourn. Della Mae Dale entered into glory Wednesday evening on October 2, 2021 at age 96. As we consider her life, the wise will take it to heart and consider what made her a jewel of great treasure.
******************************************************************
Who can find a virtuous woman?
For her price is above rubies.
Proverbs 31:10
Della Mae was born on April 19, 1925 to William and Elsie Trembly in Davis City, Iowa. The first of 9 children, our towheaded baby revealed her zest for life by starting to walk at 6½ months old. She lived in this small town in part of the garage where her father ran a machine repair shop. At age 4, her dad
sold the machine shop and moved to a farm a few miles away across the Missouri border where she learned to plant the main crop of corn and slop the hogs. She remembers with fondness the times her relatives got together on Sunday afternoon for a jam session on the banjo, violin, guitar, and piano. One time as she played games she cried, “Mom, I’m having so much fun I don’t want to go home.” Mother responded, “Why, Honey, you are home.”
When she was 9, her father sold the farm and returned to the love of his life … inventing and repairing. The first thing he built was a motor home which she traveled in with her family to Idaho to find temporary work stopping by mountain streams along the way to do laundry. She would later make this same journey with her husband to start her own family.
Eventually, when she was 10, her father found a building in Humeston, Iowa where he set up a repair business and eventually became known as Radio Bill. Della helped her dad in her high school years by waiting on customers and keeping the books. In high school, she liked all sorts of sports excelling as a varsity basketball guard. She graduated from Humeston High School in 1944. This mixture of rural/city life in a large family as she grew into a young woman was crucial in forming the beauty and value of a jewel.
******************************************************************
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her …
Proverbs 31:11
While she was in high school, the specter of war marched across the world. It was the subject of every conversation and colored every decision. Della’s best friend in high school introduced her to her brother who taught her how to square dance at a “house-raising” party in the country. From the beginning, Everett (Junior) Dale was smitten by this brown-haired beauty from the city, going as far as to repair only the driver’s side of the cloth top on his ’32 Chevy so that she would have to sit close to him when it rained to keep from getting wet. She was a sophomore in high school when they began dating once a week when he came to town from the farm where he worked.
When Junior was drafted and sent to the Galapagos Islands in the Army, they wrote to each other. Two years later, he came back for further training. On leave before he was shipped to Europe, in a decision fueled by fear and passion, they were married in the middle of a new dirt road a few days after she graduated on July 20, 1944. Then she kissed him goodbye at the train station with a promise never to part. A few months later, he was reported missing in action, but she never gave up hope. Later, she found out that he was a POW in Germany. Five months later, she was in his arms again and enjoyed the honeymoon they didn’t have time for earlier.
A few months later on the day of Junior’s birthday, he was discharged from the army and they decided to start a new life in Idaho. Borrowing $100 from the bank, they bought a ’34 Chevy, filled the backseat with their meager belongings, and headed to Idaho as she straddled the gearshift to keep it from popping out of gear downhill. In her womb on that trip in the winter of ‘45 was the beginning of their family as they faced the unknown. As pressure turns coal into a diamond, so the fires of war turned Della into a gem of resolve and beauty.
********************************************************************
Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain:
but a woman that feareth the LORD,
she shall be praised.
Proverbs 31:30
The value of a jewel comes from what shines within. Della’s spiritual life began when she was 17 and went to a summer camp of the local Baptist church. It was there at camp where she heard the good news of salvation as a gift by faith. She gave her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. About a year later in the Galapagos Islands, Junior had a similar experience. Once they were together and begun their family, they began the slow process of spiritual growth that directed the rest of her life.
A short time ago, one of her sons saw something that will be forever in his mind. Della was a night owl and the light was on very late when he got up from bed. Checking to see if everything was alright, he quietly peered around the corner. Sitting in her maroon powerlift chair under the living room lamp, Della had her large-print Bible spread out in front of her. She was reading out loud slowly and methodically some portion of the Bible. In the last years of her life, she was in pain every day of her life and her eyes couldn’t focus well enough to make reading a comfortable activity. Yet, here she was after everyone had gone to bed reading the Word of God the best she could. This fear of God characterized most of her life on a daily basis and she is praised by her family.
*****************************************************************
Give her of the fruit of her hands;
and let her own works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:31
Anybody that knew Della understood that the works of her hands was something to praise. She was a natural born teacher. She spent 40 years teaching sewing and other 4-H skills boys and girls. One of her quilts won best of show in the state fair. She showed her grandchildren and great-grandchildren how to sew and crochet. She started a junior church program and coached softball.
Seemingly born with Energizer batteries, she continued to be active when most people slow down. She played softball in her 60’s, visited several foreign countries on her own in her 60’s and even in her 80’s, was the oldest “athlete” at the YMCA and kept a daily journal for 41 years up to the very day that she died. She was a competitive card player, avid FreeCell player, loved word search books, and watched hours of figure skating videos on YouTube, and yet somehow found time to write a book of her life story.
She was fiercely independent and frugal. A few months ago when it was hard to walk even with a walker, someone noticed that a large hard-to-reach wall clock was at the correct time after the Daylight Savings Time change. When asked how she could reach it, she said, “Broom handle!”
She had two goals. The first was to not be a burden to anyone by living by herself until the end. The second was to have her face on a Smucker’s jelly jar when she turned 100. The Lord in his wisdom granted the first of these goals.
Della is survived by her sister Donna Zieber, and her three children James (Carol) Dale, David (Bonnie) Dale, and Dennis. Also surviving are 9 grandchildren … Jonathan, Benjamin, and Cherish; Jeffery, Stephanie, and Steven; Jennifer, Heather, and Nancy. Also are 26 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild Nehyome Taylor Potter . She was preceded in death by both her parents, all of her brothers and sisters but one, and her loved husband of 63 years, Everett Junior Dale.
She will be missed by all who knew her and today her children honor her. She was a jewel of great treasure.
They say that life is tough,
But God is good and wise;
He took the worst and traded
For sparkles in her eyes;
We’ve seen this happen in her Iife,
Her sparkle gave us pleasure;
She was beautiful and rare,
She’s a jewel of great treasure.
Della Mae Dale
April 19, 1925 – October 2, 2021
On the backside of life, one tends to reflect upon what gives eternal treasures. It has been said that the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. Today we mourn. Della Mae Dale entered into glory Wednesday evening on October 2, 2021 at age 96. As we consider her life, the wise will take it to heart and consider what made her a jewel of great treasure.
******************************************************************
Who can find a virtuous woman?
For her price is above rubies.
Proverbs 31:10
Della Mae was born on April 19, 1925 to William and Elsie Trembly in Davis City, Iowa. The first of 9 children, our towheaded baby revealed her zest for life by starting to walk at 6½ months old. She lived in this small town in part of the garage where her father ran a machine repair shop. At age 4, her dad
sold the machine shop and moved to a farm a few miles away across the Missouri border where she learned to plant the main crop of corn and slop the hogs. She remembers with fondness the times her relatives got together on Sunday afternoon for a jam session on the banjo, violin, guitar, and piano. One time as she played games she cried, “Mom, I’m having so much fun I don’t want to go home.” Mother responded, “Why, Honey, you are home.”
When she was 9, her father sold the farm and returned to the love of his life … inventing and repairing. The first thing he built was a motor home which she traveled in with her family to Idaho to find temporary work stopping by mountain streams along the way to do laundry. She would later make this same journey with her husband to start her own family.
Eventually, when she was 10, her father found a building in Humeston, Iowa where he set up a repair business and eventually became known as Radio Bill. Della helped her dad in her high school years by waiting on customers and keeping the books. In high school, she liked all sorts of sports excelling as a varsity basketball guard. She graduated from Humeston High School in 1944. This mixture of rural/city life in a large family as she grew into a young woman was crucial in forming the beauty and value of a jewel.
******************************************************************
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her …
Proverbs 31:11
While she was in high school, the specter of war marched across the world. It was the subject of every conversation and colored every decision. Della’s best friend in high school introduced her to her brother who taught her how to square dance at a “house-raising” party in the country. From the beginning, Everett (Junior) Dale was smitten by this brown-haired beauty from the city, going as far as to repair only the driver’s side of the cloth top on his ’32 Chevy so that she would have to sit close to him when it rained to keep from getting wet. She was a sophomore in high school when they began dating once a week when he came to town from the farm where he worked.
When Junior was drafted and sent to the Galapagos Islands in the Army, they wrote to each other. Two years later, he came back for further training. On leave before he was shipped to Europe, in a decision fueled by fear and passion, they were married in the middle of a new dirt road a few days after she graduated on July 20, 1944. Then she kissed him goodbye at the train station with a promise never to part. A few months later, he was reported missing in action, but she never gave up hope. Later, she found out that he was a POW in Germany. Five months later, she was in his arms again and enjoyed the honeymoon they didn’t have time for earlier.
A few months later on the day of Junior’s birthday, he was discharged from the army and they decided to start a new life in Idaho. Borrowing $100 from the bank, they bought a ’34 Chevy, filled the backseat with their meager belongings, and headed to Idaho as she straddled the gearshift to keep it from popping out of gear downhill. In her womb on that trip in the winter of ‘45 was the beginning of their family as they faced the unknown. As pressure turns coal into a diamond, so the fires of war turned Della into a gem of resolve and beauty.
********************************************************************
Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain:
but a woman that feareth the LORD,
she shall be praised.
Proverbs 31:30
The value of a jewel comes from what shines within. Della’s spiritual life began when she was 17 and went to a summer camp of the local Baptist church. It was there at camp where she heard the good news of salvation as a gift by faith. She gave her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. About a year later in the Galapagos Islands, Junior had a similar experience. Once they were together and begun their family, they began the slow process of spiritual growth that directed the rest of her life.
A short time ago, one of her sons saw something that will be forever in his mind. Della was a night owl and the light was on very late when he got up from bed. Checking to see if everything was alright, he quietly peered around the corner. Sitting in her maroon powerlift chair under the living room lamp, Della had her large-print Bible spread out in front of her. She was reading out loud slowly and methodically some portion of the Bible. In the last years of her life, she was in pain every day of her life and her eyes couldn’t focus well enough to make reading a comfortable activity. Yet, here she was after everyone had gone to bed reading the Word of God the best she could. This fear of God characterized most of her life on a daily basis and she is praised by her family.
*****************************************************************
Give her of the fruit of her hands;
and let her own works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:31
Anybody that knew Della understood that the works of her hands was something to praise. She was a natural born teacher. She spent 40 years teaching sewing and other 4-H skills boys and girls. One of her quilts won best of show in the state fair. She showed her grandchildren and great-grandchildren how to sew and crochet. She started a junior church program and coached softball.
Seemingly born with Energizer batteries, she continued to be active when most people slow down. She played softball in her 60’s, visited several foreign countries on her own in her 60’s and even in her 80’s, was the oldest “athlete” at the YMCA and kept a daily journal for 41 years up to the very day that she died. She was a competitive card player, avid FreeCell player, loved word search books, and watched hours of figure skating videos on YouTube, and yet somehow found time to write a book of her life story.
She was fiercely independent and frugal. A few months ago when it was hard to walk even with a walker, someone noticed that a large hard-to-reach wall clock was at the correct time after the Daylight Savings Time change. When asked how she could reach it, she said, “Broom handle!”
She had two goals. The first was to not be a burden to anyone by living by herself until the end. The second was to have her face on a Smucker’s jelly jar when she turned 100. The Lord in his wisdom granted the first of these goals.
Della is survived by her sister Donna Zieber, and her three children James (Carol) Dale, David (Bonnie) Dale, and Dennis. Also surviving are 9 grandchildren … Jonathan, Benjamin, and Cherish; Jeffery, Stephanie, and Steven; Jennifer, Heather, and Nancy. Also are 26 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild Nehyome Taylor Potter . She was preceded in death by both her parents, all of her brothers and sisters but one, and her loved husband of 63 years, Everett Junior Dale.
She will be missed by all who knew her and today her children honor her. She was a jewel of great treasure.
They say that life is tough,
But God is good and wise;
He took the worst and traded
For sparkles in her eyes;
We’ve seen this happen in her Iife,
Her sparkle gave us pleasure;
She was beautiful and rare,
She’s a jewel of great treasure.
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