Dale Ward Shirley - by Scott Shirley

Introduction by Dale Shirley: Just a comment or two on the nicknames. "Stretch" was not my first nickname. When we were a lot younger, Nephi called me "littlie" or "little little." The "Stretch" nickname showed up one year at the Treasure Mountain Camp of the Tetons scout camp near Driggs. I had one of my growth spurts and when we went to camp, we were all lined up for flag ceremony and there I was a whole head taller than all the other boys in line. One of the camp staff called me stretch and everybody laughed but we pretty much forgot about it. Then a few years later we were sitting around at school and talking about old times and one of the guys remembered when the councilor at camp called me stretch and everybody laughed and the nickname stuck ever since. It should be noted however that 1) - I am a construction superintendent, 2) - I have been divorced, and 3) - I have raised five teen-agers by myself. I have been called everything you can imagine and a few things your can't imagine, so "Stretch" is one that I feel pretty good about.

Biography: For so much of his life, Dale was known as "Stretch." He was the tallest of the family at 6'3''. He was born a year and one month after Neal, and three years before Janet and I came along. Mom said that because Dad was 34 and Mom was 25 when they got married, they were anxious to get their family here. The four of us were born within a six-year span. We lived just inside the border of the Sugar Ward, but Mom and Dad attended the Salem Ward. No one objected.

My first recollections of Dale involved me trying to follow him everywhere. He watched out for me many times. I remember people lining Dale and I side by side and laughing about how we looked so much alike (except for the fact that I was less than half his size).

Stretch was a builder. He loved to spend hours putting together model skyscrapers from a building set he got for Christmas. The little blocks were inter-locking half-inch blocks, with little doors and windows that actually opened and shut. The floors where checker-board red and white. Stretch would create building about 3 to 4 feet high, following the directions for the most part, but adding his own creations as well. He and Neal also built model cars, which were on constant display across the curtain rod cover above the picture window on the east side of the living room. They also built WWII models of various airplanes (which Janet and I packed with firecrackers and threw from the upstairs window years later - I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at he time).

Stretch took two 55 gallon drums that Dad had in the back and built a wo0den frame around it. He created a raft and launched it in the canal, securing it to the support wire that kept the power pole on the canal bank straight. An outrigger was added with inner-tubes on each side to keep the raft from tipping. Dale often got into the canal and pulled the raft up the road a couple of hundred yards to the check so that Janet and I could ride back down to our house. That is where he and Neal taught Janet and I how to swim.

Stretch was also a mechanic. He and Neal asked Dad if they could take the old baler engine (the "Wisc", short for Wisconsin) and overhaul it. Dad allowed them to do it. When they had questions, they asked people who knew. They spent many hours out in the garage working late into the night with Jim Cutler. I remember the day when they finally got it ready and had to start the engine with a hand crank. Everyone cheered as it roared to life. It never was used to power anything, but it taught the boys 1) how to overhaul an engine, and 2) anything you decide to accomplish can be done. It is also an example of how Dad let us tackle the impossible, helping when necessary, and encouraging us through our many failures. He often mentioned how many times they could not sleep because of the mechanics that were going on outside their bedroom window. Oh, the price of parenthood.

Dale was on his back underneath his '53 Ford when he noticed what he thought was the cat moving from his heels toward his head. Looking closer he could see it was a skunk. The only thing he could do was freeze, turn his head to the side and close his eyes. As the skunk waddled past his head its tail brushed his cheek. Still, he kept his composure until the animal was gone. That is what I call courage under pressure. Years earlier, Neal had gone up the road in his '59 Chevy for a date, only to return quickly to use Dale's car because he had hit a skunk. I remember a few nights waking up to the stiff stench of skunk odor. The dog would eat with the skunks in the back until he thought we were aware of him consorting with the enemy. We all paid the price of that turn-coat.

Stretch and Neal were both athletes. Stretch got his nickname from one of the coaches at Sugar Salem. Stretch played tackle, Neal was a guard. Many times they played both offense and defense. Dale was very calm and collected, but when he played football, he was a force to be reckoned with. One time a guy on the opposing team blind-sided Dale after the play was over. Stretch got up and when the next play went the other way, he took the guy to the ground, and with his face-guard interlocking the offender, informed him in no uncertain terms what would happen for the rest of the game. The guy stayed away from Stretch from then on.

I learned how to work by watching Dale. Everyone had a pipe-moving job. We just naturally expected to make our own money. I earned 5 cents a pipe and a penny bonus if we stayed all year. We always stayed the entire year. Stretch worked for Parkinson's. Many times he would have to move the line from one side of the field to another, so he would load the entire line onto the trailer by himself. He and Neal were always in "training" for one sport or another, which meant they had to watch carefully what they ate and report any violation to the coaches. They never broke training, to my knowledge.

One of the first jobs I had was working with Dale for our cousin, Jim Shirley. He bought loads of used house brick and dumped them in a field just north of the cement plant. I was about ten, Dale about 13. We would go to work chipping off the mortar from the bricks and stacking them on pallets. We were paid one penny per brick (which meant we were not getting rich). I was always trying to catch up to Dale, who always presented the example of "dogged determination." I never once saw him slacking off. I always wanted to be like Dale, and still do today.

Dale and I moved sprinkler pipes together for Ralph Pocock when Dale first got back from his misison. On the way to work I was telling him about a girl in one of my classes that I wanted to ask out on a date, but she was "Miss Manitoba," so she probably wouldn't want to go out with someone like me. Dale looked at me and said, "You are never out-classed until you think you are." I believed everything Dale told me, so I asked Miss Manitoba out on a date. She turned me down (something about washing her hair), but the important thing was that I asked her out. I have remembered not to sell myself short. Oh, Canada!

Neal and Dale both got mission calls to the Brazilian South mission. Neal went shortly before Dale. We were amazed that they would be called to the same mission. They were given the opportunity to work together and served with distinction. They sent home two Amazon parrots, which quickly became part of the family, calling Janet and I to get out of bed each morning. Often when we said the blessing on the food and began the prayer with, "Father in Heaven...," a voice from Mr. Bird would say, "Hello?"

Dale and Neal were great examples for a younger brother to follow. I remember avoiding potential problems and temptations with the idea, "My brothers will kill me," and they would have. Neal and Dale frequently went hunting and fishing with Dad, something that never did appeal to me very much. We often ate wild meat, including deer, pheasant and duck.

Dale and Neal set another example in terms of music. Stretch and I learned how to play accordion. Mom also played. Neal and Dale played trombone in the Sugar Salem school band. They also sang in Madrigals (choir group). Dale was Senior Class President. He was also into calculus and trig, competing in Mathlete competitions at the college. His former math teacher, Mr. Romrell, still talks about how smart Dale was.

Dale is a master chef. He loves to cook "Conference Cuisine" for family members. Kids, cousins and assorted family members meet during General Conference at Stretch's house for a meal as well as good family fun. He follows the same tradition Dad had of making his home a place where family and friends want to gather. The love Dale has for his family is obvious in the things he both says and does.

Dale has been one of the most influential people in my life. I couldn't have asked for a better example of all the things I wanted to become. He exemplifies true Christianity. His personal integrity is unquestioned. I asked him once when things were rather grim how he was managing. He said, "I read Section 121 and 122 a lot." He is not a complainer, nor ever has been. He makes the best of every situation. I still want to be like him when I grow up.