Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Dale Marvin Mohler was born in Des Moines, Iowa, to Mary and David Mohler in 1922. Dale, who was a fraternal twin to his sister, Dorothy, was raised with 12 siblings during the Great Depression. His father worked various jobs from coal miner to laundryman, while his mother was a homemaker. As a teenager, Dale helped to support the family by working as a newspaper carrier for the Des Moines Register. He developed an early interest in astronomy as he learned a vast amount about the sky, solar system and constellations. He went on to graduate from Lincoln High School.

Dale quickly gained work in a factory that made equipment for the troops. After a year of seeing the impact of his work on the military, he voluntarily joined the United States Army wanting to help the war effort. Dale served our country proudly from 1942 to 1945 as a Radar Specialist, working with the early versions of radar. He served his time first in England, and then, after the invasion of Normandy, in Western Europe: France, Germany, Belgium, and Austria. He was oftentimes stationed just behind the front lines, as his job was to detect and report friendly and unfriendly aircraft in the area. In 1945, he finished his service and was honorably discharged, and returned home to Iowa.

In 1946, his life changed forever when his sister introduced him to one of her friends at the roller skating rink. Her name was Gladys. After the couple skated together that special day, they found they had a lot in common and started dating. They spent time together and enjoyed going to the movies and a variety of other activities. Dale had always dreamed of moving to California because he liked the climate. He had spent time visiting Southern California because his sister, Ilene, lived there. In 1947, he moved to Southern California and sent for Gladys to join him. She traveled by train from Iowa and soon the couple was married in a Los Angeles wedding chapel.

The couple had two wonderful sons nine years apart: David and Gary. Dale was a wonderful father to both of the boys. He dedicated a good portion of his life activities to enhance David's well-being. He was very committed to supporting David's loves in life including television, CDs, records, tapes, and books on many subjects. David loved Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and had an incredible memory for trips they went on, remembering motels where they stayed. After David moved away from home, Dale liked to bring him home for a visit every other weekend. He rarely missed a weekend dedicating time to his son for the next 40 years.

For Gary, who was born nine years after David, he remembers being very young and looking forward to his father coming home from work each day. Dale loved sharing stories about his work as an Engineering Fieldman for General Telephone (GTE). He loved his work as he designed the system of telephone poles and lines to provide new service for areas both big and small. While Dale's work included an office element, it also offered a field element. He enjoyed going to different places and made many social work contacts through his business. The guys would go to breakfast or lunch together, and then work in the field. As tools were very important in Dale's field work, he taught Gary about using tools as well saying, "When you finish with a tool, put it back in the tool box right away." It was good advice as everything has a place and should be easy to find the next time you need it.

Dale was proud of everything Gary accomplished, from joining the Naval ROTC in high school to his graduations from Harvey Mudd College and the University of California, Berkley, to his work as a geophysicist in oil and gas exploration. When Gary moved away to Houston, Texas, in 1980, he made it a priority to keep in touch with his parents through phone calls and regular visits.

Over the years, there were daytrips to every place of interest including museums. Dale was very interested in England and its history. His interest began when he was stationed there, before the invasion of Europe. During his entire service in Europe, he had a keen interest in the geography and history wherever he was, which included France, Belgium, and Germany. In his retirement, he and Gladys took trips to England to visit and appreciated historical sites and the culture. These visits gave him fond memories.

Later in life, Dale enjoyed going on some sort of outing nearly every day. Twice a week he liked going to the library to check out books. He was a voracious reader who read three or four books at a time keeping them lined up with the pages marked on the living room coffee table. England and Europe and their history were among the many subjects of his reading along with stories about World War II. His favorite television channel was the Public Television Station (PBS) and he liked watching the news and documentaries. At every turn, he educated himself and he was knowledgeable about a variety of topics.

Dale enjoyed listening to classical music, especially the classical music programs on PBS and his radio was always set to classical stations. He also liked songs of the 50s and organ music. Over the years, the family got together for special holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas with Dale's older sister, Ilene, who lived nearby. As a hobby, Dale had a collection of all kinds of mechanical gadgets in his garage, including his air compressor, antique tools and three telescopes, as he retained his interest in astronomy.

Professionally, Dale was dedicated to making telephone service available to every community. He was honored for his 42 years of service to GTE with a chiming grandfather clock when he retired.

While he wasn't a huge sports fan, he did enjoy watching the Los Angeles Dodgers play baseball on occasion, especially this year. And, when it came to pets there was one lucky pet in his life. Since 1963, Dale fed the family's desert tortoise, Lucky, every day. He took good care of Lucky and fed him his favorite food, Romaine lettuce, and took him indoors for his winter hibernation. Lucky is still going strong and Gladys and Gary are grateful they found a wonderful new family to care for him.

As a grandfather, Dale was wonderful. There were several visits to Houston, Texas, and Gary and his family traveled several times to visit Gladys and Dale. Known as Grandma and Grandpa, the kids loved spending time with their grandparents. Reanna would line up her stuffed animals for Grandpa to see. Reanna and Lucas loved it when their grandparents read books to them.

While Dale ate in many restaurants while working in the field, Gladys was a good cook at home and Dale enjoyed his meat and potatoes. It wasn't really a meal unless you had potatoes and gravy. He was a coffee drinker and sometimes he'd sit up at 2 or 3 in the morning and drink coffee while he'd read his books.

A patriotic man, Dale would hang an American flag outside of his home and he painted a ceramic eagle and had a bronze eagle hanging in his living room. He liked eagles because of their perception and the fact that they could see so well. He said he had eyes like an eagle and had good eyesight because of his work.

Dale was the kind of man who had a heart of gold. For example, over the years a widower who lived next door wasn't very nice to him. But when that widower took ill and no one else would visit, Dale made an effort to go to the hospital and visit regularly. It was a kind and generous gift to help support someone in need. He truly saw beyond the surface and made a difference in the lives of other people.

Dale told his family he believed in the hereafter and he said, "We'll be together again." In his final days, he told Gladys, "I love you," as they held hands a lot. One day when she arrived, he looked up and winked at her. When she asked, "What do you want?" He said, "You." He always loved Gladys, David and Gary, because family was the best thing in his life. Toward the end, Dale told his family he'd like to go home and they honored his wishes. Within 24 hours of returning to his home, he passed away peacefully with his family at his side.

Dale Mohler will be remembered as smart, caring and a man of character. He was a good husband, father and grandfather whose smarts truly filtered down to his grandchildren. The family will miss everything about him now. Gladys will miss his presence, as he was truly her best friend. Even if he was sitting and reading a book, she appreciated his presence in their home, as she was comforted. Gary will miss talking to his father and sharing stories about his work and family. Dale's advice to everyone now would be to remember him, move on with your lives and make him proud.

Dale is loved and remembered by his wife Gladys; son David; son Gary and his wife Sarah; grandchildren Lucas and Reanna; extended relatives and friends.

Memorial donations are welcome in Dale Mohler's name to The Arc-South Bay, which was founded in 1959 as the Southwest Association for Retarded Children, promoting the general welfare of individuals with mental retardation www.arcsobay.org.