Lawrence Dale Obituary

Dale
Lawrence P. Dale
1924 - 2017
Lawrence Philip (Larry) Dale, 93, joined his wife Shirley in Heaven on September 27, 2017. He was the best dad in the world to daughters Robin Dale McCann (Pat) of Estes Park, Colorado and Nancy Dale Klismet (Pete) of Fort Collins, Colorado.
A private burial will take place at Evergreen Cemetery with a reception for friends and family on Friday, October 6 at 11:00 a.m. at MacKenzie Place, 1605 Elm Creek View (corner of Union Blvd. and Fillmore Street), Colorado Springs. Friends are welcome to bring a favorite photo or written memory to share with the family.
Larry was born and raised in Island Pond, Vermont on June 2, 1924 to Timothy and Emma Dale. He served in the U. S. Army during World War II as a photolithographer and was honorably discharged in March 1946 with the rank of Staff Sergeant. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1949 with a degree in physics and pursued graduate studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
On June 25, 1949 he married the love of his life, Shirley Hill, in Montpelier, Vermont. They moved to the Washington, D.C. area where he took a job as a physicist with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in White Oak, Maryland, and made their home in the suburb of Rockville, Maryland.
In 1960 the family, now including two young daughters, moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where Larry accepted a position as an Operations Research Analyst with NORAD. When he retired in 1979, he was Deputy Chief of Space/Missile Surveillance Division, Directorate of Analysis.
Larry loved airplanes. He was a private pilot, multiple aircraft owner and builder of experimental aircraft. He kept his airplanes at Meadow Lake Airport where he and his girls (and later grandchildren) would spend many happy hours. He was a man of many talents and interests, including photography, skiing, amateur (ham) radio, and travel. There was nothing he couldn't fix or invent!
During his lifetime he was a member of the American Physical Society, the Operations Research Society of America, the American Radio Relay League, the Association of Old Crows, Silver Wings, Meadow Lake Airport Association, the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 72, and the Island Pond, Vermont Historical Society.
Larry was a great supporter of the EAA Young Eagles Program in which youths age 8-17 start their aviation journey with free introductory flights offered by EA a volunteer pilots; also the Aviation Education Foundation of Colorado, a non-profit organization offers scholarships and teaches young people to fly.
He is preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 51 years, Shirley Dale; his brother, Dr. Porter H. Dale; and his granddaughter, Lindsay Dale McCann Harding.
He is survived by his daughters Robin McCann and Nancy Klismet; grandchildren Michael Patrick McCann (Tiffany) of Dallas, Texas; Ryan Gibson of Los Angeles, California, and Daniel Gibson of Colorado Springs; a great-grandson, Matthew Harding of Estes Park, Colorado; his sisters, Janet Dale Hirsh of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Virginia Dale Aja (Tony) of Bradenton, Florida; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made to: Aviation Education Foundation of Colorado, Inc., 7505 Mallard Drive, Peyton, Colorado 80831; the EAA Young Eagles Program, Experimental Aircraft Association, P. O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903; and the Island Pond Historical Society, P. O. Box 408, Island Pond, Vermont 05846.