Henrietta "Betty" Dale

Henrietta Betty Dale, 97, passed away Tuesday, February 3, 2015 in Longmont, CO. A funeral service will be held Monday, February 9, 2015, at 11 a.m. at Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Chapel, burial to follow at Highland Cemetery with a luncheon to follow burial at Schnider Funeral Home.Mom, always known as Betty, was born and raised on the Mundt Ranch about 14 miles south of Stockett, which was homesteaded by her father, William in 1904. Betty began her education at Houskin school, a one room country school overlooking Box Elder Creek, and then on to Great Falls High School where she graduated in 1935. She met our father, Carl H. Heiman, through our uncle Walter Raunig, who was dating and later married Dads sister Edna (thereby blessing us with a multitude of cousins with bloodlines running on both sides of the family tree).Betty and Carl married and later built a home in about 1949 on 4th Avenue South in Great Falls, conveniently located for us four kids right across the street from Great Falls High, where she and our family lived until winter of 2012. Our dad Carl died in May 1963 at age 51 of a sudden heart attack. Betty and Carl were blessed with four children: Errol, Gail, Kathie and Kim; eight grandchildren: Todd, Heidi, Jason, Erin, Joel, Justin, Lauren and Sean; ten great-grandchildren: Angus, Hayden, George, Jack, Bri, Elle, Jackson, Jacob, Brady and Ellie.We, along with our aunts, uncles and cousins all share many rich memories of Mom and our wonderful family, lots of gatherings, potluck dinners at the house, roller skating in the basement, fixing and washing cars on the driveway and garage, hunting and fishing trips and cleaning the proceeds in the basement laundry tub. Moms gardening adventures, picnics in the mountains, dances in Cascade and Stockett with music by Tesinskys orchestra, car and train trips to Oregon to visit Aunt Winnie and Uncle Tom, weekends out at the ranch(es) with Louie and Sylvia, Bobby and Fran, Billy and Jean, and the Mesaros in Cascade, fun times in the kitchen at Aunt Louises in Belt, ice cream and Lawrence Welk at Uncle Walts and Aunt Ednas on Saturday nights, Uncle Bill and Aunt Leonas cabin in the mountains and car trips to visit Aunt Ada and Uncle Johnny in Helena.It is safe to say that we all saw her as completely devoted to her family, always putting others needs before her own. She was also a hard worker, evident in the care of her family as well as in her work as a library aid at Franklin Elementary school and her contributions as a leader and active participant in organizations such as the Machinists Union Ladies Auxillary and Cascade County Home Demonstration Club.Betty met and married Ralph Dale of Choteau, MT in 1973. Betty and Ralph continued to live in the home on 4th until November of 2012, when she and Ralph came to Errol and Jeannies home in Longmont, CO for Thanksgiving. Both of them were very ill, and Errols son Todd had flown to Great Falls to accompany and assist them on the trip. Within a week, both Ralph and Betty entered Longmont United hospital, where Ralph died on December 4, 2012. Betty was admitted to a rehabilitation center after about one week at the hospital and she spent the next forty-five days recuperating there. She was amazingly fit after leaving the rehab center, exhibiting strength and vigor beyond many who were twenty years or more her junior. She moved to Sterling House Assisted Living in Longmont on about February 1, 2013, and resided there surrounded by her favorite furnishings, paintings and loving family until her unexpected passing on the morning of February 3, 2015. She never used a wheel chair in all of her 97+ years, although she did begrudgingly use a walker, referred to as The Ford mostly to keep folks at Sterling House happy during her time there! She was also an avid reader; and despite macular degeneration was able to use a Kindle and read more than one hundred fifty novels during the past two years. Her mind and wit were quick and sharp to the very end, and she was able to participate in all of our family events including fishing, cruising Main, and attending school programs for her great-grandchildren in Longmont. She enjoyed frequenting Golden Corral in Loveland, Red Robin and Freddys in Longmont, especially pineapple milkshakes!By all accounts Betty was an amazing woman. We will miss her always, and are inspired by her in our daily activities and through future generations.