Submitted by: Dan Rich

Marvin K. Dale

Oct. 13, 1917 – April 3, 2004

South Bend Tribune 4/6/2004

Marvin K. Dale, 86, of Oakmont Drive East, died at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 3, in Hamilton Community's Health Care Center, New Carlisle, Ind., where he had been a patient 10 months.

Mr. Dale had lived most of his life in German Township. He was born on Oct. 13, 1917, in Rensselaer, Ind., to John and Flossie Dale. His parents, six brothers, Cyril Roseel, Ivan, Lavon, Lyle, Russell and Bobby, and four sisters, Geraldine, Genevieve Kathryn, Cora and Della, all preceded him in death.

On April 5, 1943, in South Bend, Ind., he married Coralie Jean Meldrim, who survives. He is also survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Pamela and Henry Mierlak, and Christine and Gregory Benninghoff, all of Buchanan, Mich.; and by six grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Mr. Dale was a carpenter and drove a school bus for The South Bend Community School Corporation In retirement, he returned to the practice of farming that he had learned and loved as a child. He was a nearly lifelong member of Northwest (formerly Portage Chapel) United Methodist Church, volunteering his help on most every church board and project, including the construction of the current church buildings. He was a founding member of the German Township Fire Department, and helped build both the north and south fire stations. Mr. Dale also had served on the German Township Board of Trustees, and was a member of Post 50, American Legion. He served with the Navy in the Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean theaters from 1941 to 1945.

When Mr. Dale returned from military service to South Bend, he and his wife began building the first of five homes they constructed for their family. He cleared the land, milled the timber into boards, and dug by hand the basement of that first house. He was a good man who worked hard and generously shared his talents. And he was devoted to friends and family who are blessed to have shared his life and cherish his memory.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Northwest United Methodist Church, with interment in the Riverview Cemetery Mausoleum. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today in the Welsheimer North Funeral Home, 17033 Cleveland Road. Memorial contributions may be made to the church or to Alzheimer's Services of Northern Indiana Inc.