Dale Virus

Dale Dean Virus

February 13, 1930 – November 29, 2022

A loving husband, devoted father, caring grandfather, and memorable great grandfather.

Dale Dean was born on a Thursday, on the family farm on the south side of Deshler, NE, the second son of the second son (Fred Henry Virus) of Paul R. Virus. He was baptized at Peace Lutheran church in Deshler soon thereafter. By 1935, it was determined that the meager production of the farm in the height of the dust bowl drought and the depression, was not sufficient to support all of the Virus brothers, sisters and their families, so Fred enlisted the assistance of a shirttail relation in California.  Ernest Harms and his wife Margaret (a cousin), eagerly adopted the family, moved them west and found Fred employment in the growing citrus industry.

Looking for a smaller church family that reminded them more of what they had left in Nebraska, Fred and Clara became involved and enrolled their boys in Immanuel Lutheran School in Orange, CA. They rented a modest 2-bedroom home on La Veta Avenue, just west of the RR tracks, a home that still exists today. Glenn, 3 years older, shepherded and watched after his younger brother. Mr. E. T. Pingel, the principal of Immanuel Lutheran School, also took keen interest in the youngster, or so it seemed, because he always seemed to be in trouble. Dad remembered collecting a lot of rocks and pebbles, picked from the dry, dusty playground (a popular ‘punishment’ of the day).

At some point before and after the flood of 1938, Fred had taken a job as the caretaker for the ranch for the Douglas family, located on the west side of the river the groves had been hard hit by the flood as the berm along the river had failed at the Lincoln curve and flooded large areas of Anaheim in that area. Fred’s time was mostly taken up supervising the laborers that were hired to dig out the extra silt around the base of the trees, trailer it back to rebuild the berm along the edge of the river. The caretaker’s home on the ranch was located where a now Douglas Road intersects and becomes Cerritos, and traverses parallel to the RR tracks, now where the 57 freeway crosses Cerritos. Since the Lincoln, Katella and Chapman bridges all were washed away in the flood, the boys walked their bicycles the rest of that school year and most of the next, during the rainy seasons, across the train trestle, which was the only surviving bridge in the area.

It was also about this time that he noticed a new young lady, Shirley “Marlene” Lembke, that had started at Immanuel School with her younger brother. As Immanuel was only a two-room school building at this time they only shared the classroom one year before Dale moved to the ‘upper grade’ room. Dale confirmed his faith at Immanuel in 1944.

The family moved around a bit as Fred found positions that were available. For a couple of years during the war the family occupied another small caretaker’s residence on Fairhaven, right where Cambridge Street ended. These groves belonged to the local cemetery for future development and Fred maintained them and performed gardening and other horticultural services. This was an optimal location because young Dale was only a short bicycle ride from Immanuel, while brother Glenn attended Tustin High School because they were on the south side of Fairhaven.

After graduation from Orange High School, Dale worked at several jobs around Orange before settling into a position as a Carpenter with his future father-in-law Hugo Lembke. In 1952 while driving home one afternoon Dale came across a roll of plans that had been lost off a truck. Knowing that his parents were planning on settling down in one of the new subdivision settlements rapidly developing around Orange he stopped, picked it up and took it home. The plans were adjusted to fit the family needs, squeezed to fit that lot that his parents had purchased and built. Shortly afterward, Dale proposed and married Marlene in 1954 upon her graduation from Stanford University Nursing School. She still had a 1 year internship to complete at San Francisco General (there was no medical center on Campus at that time) so they rented a small apartment in the City. Dale had to get a Union card to work in the City, but was low man on the seniority pole so rarely got work. After 5 months, around Christmas, he gave up, left his young wife to her schooling and moved back to Orange, to work again with his father-in-law.

Once June arrived, and their first anniversary, Marlene finished school and came home to Orange. They rented a ground floor apartment in a two-story building along Batavia, near the train tracks. From there the young couple moved to a home rented from her grandfather located on Cleveland Street. There they welcomed their son, Timothy, in 1957, and Randall was born in 1959. Because his father-in-law decided to retire, Dale went to work for the County of Orange as a carpenter. His first assignment was at the County Hospital, where his mother was also employed as a Nursing Assistant – Housekeeper. At this time also they purchased a property in the foothill community of Villa Park, ¼ of what had previously been a two-acre pheasant ranch.

Dale continued to work for the County, ending at the Environmental Management Agency as a construction field supervisor. After this, he worked for the City of Villa Park for 10 years as a general utility and maintenance person. Because the local Ralph’s grocery store was near his work route, he stopped there several times a week to check the loading dock for out-of-date or otherwise discarded food products that he loaded up and took to Mary’s Kitchen or other organizations to assist in feeding the needy. He always said, “”Sell-by” doesn’t mean you can’t eat it – it just means they can’t sell it.”

Among Dale’s various long-term hobbies and interests were raising pigeons and ducks, serving with the Villa Park Volunteer Fire Department, the Izaak Walton League, the Model ‘A’ Club, helping church and family with various building and maintenance projects, and watching his sons’ and grandchildrens’ activities.  Dale and Marlene also loved traveling (road trips, Elderhostels, cruising), playing bridge and pinochle and spending time at their mountain cabin with family and friends. Most memorable were the “wild” gatherings of friends and family at the “Dew Drop Inn Again” for New Year’s celebrations, dancing the Chicken Dance at midnight, Eggs benedict breakfast on New Year’s morning while watching the parade, or just being in the solitude splitting wood for the fire on a cool brisk morning. And always watching football – didn’t matter the team – always root for the underdog.

Dale is survived by his son Timothy and his wife Barbara; son Randall and his children Nicholas, Jessica Morgan and Piper, Great-grandchildren: Juliet, Jillian, Joel and Harper, sister-in-law Carol and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his beloved Marlene (66 years), his parents Fred and Clara, brother and sister-in-law Glenn and Ione Virus, brother-in-law Gerald.  

Thanks for all of the memories. Rest in peace Dad, Grampa, Gi. You are ALWAYS in our heart.

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