Ramon E Dale '50 7/71926 - 1/21/2017 The following is from the Sonoma Index-Tribune.
Ramon "Gene" Dale passed away in Corte Madera, CA. Gene Dale, a long-time resident of San Francisco, Sonoma and Marin died January 21 at the age of 90.
Mr. Dale founded and served as president of the commercial real estate firm of Callan, Stroud and Dale in San Francisco. He lived a full and active life, continuing to work well into his 80s and traveling extensively up until his 90th birthday.
Ramon Eugene 'Gene' Dale was born in Effingham, Illinois in 1926 to parents Oscar and Alice Dale. He was raised in Decatur, Ill. In 1938, his Boy Scout troop canoed across Hudson Bay and were featured in Life Magazine. His troop later traveled to the East Coast where they watched a West Point graduation, met FDR and attended the 1939 World's Fair in New York. He later attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Mr. Dale graduated from Decatur High School as Salutatorian in 1944 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1944-1946.
After his Navy service, he enrolled at the University of Illinois, joining Beta Theta Pi fraternity, serving as business manager for the yearbook and graduating with a Business Degree in 1950.
Mr. Dale worked for IBM in Chicago before moving to San Francisco in the mid 1950's and working in commercial real estate for Coldwell Banker.
In 1959, Mr. Dale, along with John Callan and Michael Stroud, formed their own firm, specializing in commercial properties in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Mr. Dale lived in Mill Valley for twenty years where he and his former wife raised their two children.
He was a member, and former president, of the Family Club in San Francisco and a member of the St. Francis Yacht Club, the World Trade Club and the S.F. Stock Exchange Club. He served on the board of directors for numerous organizations. Mr. Dale married his wife Judy in 1982. They spent the rest of their lives together, dividing their time between San Francisco and Sonoma until her recent passing in September of 2016. For many years, they owned a beautiful old lodge high up on Mt. Veeder in Sonoma County where they spent much of their time and regularly hosted and entertained family and friends. In business and in his personal life, Mr. Dale was known for his energy, sense of humor, integrity, charm and warmth. For those who knew him, he was a wonderful story and joke teller. His tendency to start laughing before the punch line only served to enhance a joke.
Mr. Dale met some interesting and notable people during his lifetime, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Winston Churchill. One of his favorite stories to tell involved a long night he spent in Sun Valley, Idaho, drinking with Ernest Hemingway. He loved music, especially jazz, and saw all the top jazz musicians play live. He played drums and produced musical shows at various times during his life, including numerous shows for The Family Club. Mr. Dale also loved to be active and travel. He and Judy traveled to locations all over the world, including Venice, Paris, Rome, St. Petersburg, Machu Picchu, Bali and the Galapagos Islands to name a few. Their adventures eventually took them to all seven continents. An avid hiker, he loved Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.
At the impressive age of 71, he hiked from the South Rim to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back.
Survivors include his son Jeff Dale, his wife Cathy and their children Joey, Alex and Maddie, his daughter Cathy Coontz, her husband Jeff and their children Sean and Ella, his stepdaughter Catherine Freund Dale-Jablonowski and her husband Michael and daughter Frebrenie "Brennie" Dale and his step-daughter Marnie Freund Beamesderfer, whose husband David Beamesderfer predeceased her in 2015. There will be a private ceremony.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Mr. Dale's name may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and/or the Yosemite Conservancy.
Published in the Sonoma Index-Tribune from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1, 201