Grace H. Dale

Isobel Grace Hampton Dale, “Grace” to her many friends, passed away in Appleton on 7 May 2009.

Grace was born in Toronto, Canada, on 14 July 1918, daughter of Lillian Clidero and Norman Hampton. Soon after her birth, Norman died of illness sustained in the trenches of World War I; and Grace was brought up by her mother.

Grace was educated in Oak Ridges and attended high school in Aurora, Ontario, both near Toronto. She earned a BA from Victoria College of the University of Toronto in 1940. She met her husband Tom Dale, not at the University of Toronto, where he was also a student, but at Muldrew Lake in Muskoka, where the Dale family had a summer cottage and Grace was staying with another family to look after their children.

Grace and Tom were married in Toronto on 29 August 1942. Grace worked as a translator and censor during the war years, while Tom was a staff officer in the Canadian navy.

Their first child, Ian, was born in Ottawa in 1944; their second, Gillian in London, Ontario, in 1947; and their third child, Susan in Dekalb, Illinois in 1954, reflecting their peregrinations during the early years of their marriage. They were finally able to settle more permanently when Tom came to Milwaukee-Downer College (1955 to 1964) and thence to Lawrence (1964 to 1981). They moved to Appleton in 1964; and Grace spent the rest of her life there, except for numerous trips around North America and abroad, some on holidays, some to visit her children and other relatives.

Grace had wide ranging interests in the cultural and social spheres; and her sense of humour, loving disposition and sympathetic interest in others led her to have a very extensive circle of friends. She will be deeply mourned by many people in Appleton, other parts of North America and Great Britain, as well as some even farther afield.

Grace is survived by her three children, Ian (Diana) Dale, Gillian Dale, and Susan (Andrew) Mason, and by four grandchildren, Jack, Gregory, Rosemary and Timothy Mason. She is further survived by Tom's brothers: Hugh in Collingwood, Ontario, Bill (Jane) in London, Ontario and Tom's sister Margaret Devereux in Hull, England, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, and even great-grand nieces and nephews.

Funeral services for Grace will be held at 11:30 AM on Monday, May 11, 2009 at ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 100 N. Drew Street in Appleton with Fr. Patrick Twomey officiating. Friends may call at the church on Monday morning from 9:30 AM until the hour of the service.

Wichmann Funeral Home
537 N. Superior Street
Appleton, Wisconsin 54911
920 739-1231