Aug. 25, 1930 - Oct. 26, 2020
Date of Service: Oct. 31, 2020
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Our beloved father, dear grandfather, kind uncle, and life-long friend to many people, Dale LeRoy Shelby, passed away Monday, October 26, 2020, in Highland, Utah, from causes incident to advanced age.
Dale Shelby was born August 25, 1930, to Joseph Tillman Shelby and Alyce Johnson Shelby. His younger brother, Monte Joe Shelby, was born May 2, 1938, and completed their family.
Dad grew up in Rupert and Burley, Idaho. As a young boy he enjoyed many weekends and holidays with his mother’s parents, Ras and Jenny Johnson, on their farm in Acequia. With uncles and cousins, he helped milk cows, gather eggs, hoe, weed, and harvest on the farm. His grandmother, Jenny Johnson, was a wonderful cook and made homemade cake and home bread which he loved.
Grandpa Johnson taught him carpentry and Dad was skilled in building shelves and understanding building mechanics which he used throughout his life. Grandma Johnson loved the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she encouraged Dad to be baptized when he was 15 years old, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
His parents worked for W & R Food Stores. When Dad was in first grade they moved from Rupert to Burley as they purchased a small store from Joe Dolan in Burley. Their family home, on South Overland Avenue in Burley, was surrounded by wonderful families. His classmates in school were friends from Overland School in first grade through high school graduation. Dad enjoyed these friendships all of his life and attended all of the Burley High School reunions where he enjoyed these friendships so much.
Dale excelled in sports. He played varsity football and varsity basketball. He was offered a scholarship to play football in college. He was Burley High School student body vice-president his junior year and student body president his senior year. He enjoyed Earl Carlson, Burley High School’s principal and his coach, Rulon Budge, and other teachers so much.
He worked in the grocery store from the time he was eight years old counting eggs after school and on weekends. When he was 11, he could pluck chickens earning 10 cents a chicken for his dad at the grocery store. After school he could pluck 50 chickens earning $5.00. During this time, $15.00 per week was a standard wage and he was amazed he could earn $5.00 in one evening after school. In time they bought a building on the corner of 16th and Oakley Avenue in Burley; the building was enlarged three times. They hauled dirt and built racks and expanded from cabins to apartments and everything from cleaning oil to fresh food and canned foods.
Dad bought himself a Red Ryder BB Gun and a Western Flyer bicycle. He rode this bicycle until his senior year in high school when he sold it to the paper boy.
During World War II, he saw gas and food rationing. His family made homemade ice cream and sold it on the weekends. One day, Betty Nelson from Oakley came in to buy ice cream with her older sister, Wilma, and her younger sister, Carol Nelson. For Dad it was love at first sight.
At a seminary dance at the Y-Dell Dance Hall, he was introduced formally to Betty by the dance chaperone, “get acquainted queen” as they called it then. They danced and enjoyed the evening and Betty missed the seminary bus back to Oakley. Dad had a truck by this time and he gladly took her home.
They had many wonderful dances and dates from her family’s farm activities to playing football for Burley while Betty was cheerleading for Oakley. Oakley’s high school gymnasium floor had several uneven floorboards. During Burley vs. Oakley games, Dad loved to line up on those spots and sink basketball shots as Betty would say, “Dale you quit that!” - cheering for the other team.
He loved her widowed mother, Vera Poulton Nelson and her six sisters and one brother. As they courted through high school, her mother made canned chicken, homemade biscuits, and cherry upside down cake for the wonderful family get-togethers.
Ice skating, picnics, and school events created friendships Dale and Betty shared in Oakley and Burley. Her sisters and their families lived in Oakley and Burley and were especially close; Myrna and George Franks, Beatrice and Theron Smith, Wanda and Nile Critchfield, LaRae and Quentin Warr, Wilma and Oel Parrish, Bob and Mary Nelson and, after their high-school years, Carol and LaDell Handy and their families.
Picnics in Bostetter, family baseball games, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and the 4th of July holidays; birthdays, and deer-and-elk-hunting trips made family memories for always.
Her sisters, their husbands, and their families became his dearest and closets friends for the rest of his life.
After high school graduation, Dale Shelby and Betty Nelson were married and sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on June 7, 1948. Five children, and later their spouses, joined their family, Dian Shelby, Darla (Bob) Shelby Hall, Mark (Jan) Shelby, Suzi (Jim) Shelby Stanger, and Joe (Amber) Shelby; along with 14 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Dale and his father went to work in Twin Falls with a new grocery store on Addison Avenue, Shelby’s Market. They bought bare ground and developed the store enlarging it and adding a gas station and eventually a second Shelby’s Market in Burley and a third Shelby’s Market in Buhl.
During this time, LaDell and Carol Handy and their three daughters, Debra, Denise and Jerrolynn, became like a second family. Uncle LaDell worked at the grocery store and he and Dad, along with all the kids, enjoyed 4-H, pack trips to Jarbidge, picnics, and many other adventures, where the kids were told to “not tell your Mother!”
Uncle LaDell Handy and Dad were involved in the Burley Sheriff’s Posse and the Burley Fair Board together. Later, as they developed ranchland, they were named Idaho Grassmen of the Year in 1970.
Dad loved horses and along with his brothers-in-law, Oel Parrish and LaDell Handy, and his father, Joe Shelby, they had cutter-race teams, Quarter Horse Futurity race horses, and outstanding Quarter Horses together. Later in his life, in 1971, Dale and Betty purchased Pitch Fork Ranch in King Hill, Idaho, with Uncle LaDell Handy, Aunt Carol, and their families, and they moved to the ranch near Glenns Ferry, Idaho. Throughout his life Dad and Mom were involved in business enterprises that included self-automated laundromats in Burley, gas stations and car washes, and many other businesses. Dad’s brother, Monte, and father, Joe developed large mobile-home parks, which Dad helped build and expand. With Dian Shelby, they developed a large outdoor advertising business covering all of Southern Idaho from Twin Falls to Pocatello and on to Idaho Falls. Dad also assisted Mark and Jan Shelby establish Computerland in Idaho Falls, which serviced the new computer industry developing in Southern Idaho.
Dad actively served throughout his life as a Scout leader, taking youth to Glacier National Park. He also served as a high councilor, bishop’s counselor, and bishop in the Church. Upon retirement, Dad and Mom moved to a lovely home near Bountiful, Utah. He loved to serve in the temple, serving faithfully for 20 years in the Idaho Falls Idaho and Bountiful Utah temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He loved his family, his grandchildren, and his many nieces and nephews, and visited his family often. He built shelves, helped remodel or install sprinkling systems, watched basketball and football games, and attended many piano recitals. Additionally, he loved playing games like Pinochle with family.
Dad loved America and loved visiting every state and its cities and national parks. In Idaho, he loved the City of Rocks, Easley’s Hot Springs, Jarbidge, Snake River Canyon, and the Oakley 24th of July celebrations. He supported parades with family dressed as Pioneers and, with a large covered wagon pulled by Blue and Paint (our oxen), traveled to participate in the Salt Lake City 24th of July parades, Buhl Sagebrush Days, and the Twin Falls and Burley parades and fairs.
Redfish Lake became a family reunion site. The family camped together for four days with a Dutch oven cook off, boating, hiking, bicycling, and evening campfires; these were all special family times.
In 2004, Betty passed away while undergoing surgery to repair an aneurysm in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dale later married Margie Dae Madsen and they enjoyed traveling to Russia, Estonia, and Latvia, and many other trips where they enjoyed sight-seeing in the United States. Together, they built a home in Twin Falls, Idaho, and enjoyed time there and in St. George, Utah, during the winter.
Dad was preceded in death by his parents, Alyce and Joe Shelby; his wife, Betty Nelson Shelby; his daughter, Darla Shelby Hall; his son, Mark Shelby; and his second wife, Margie Dae Madsen.
He is survived by his daughter, Dian Shelby of Couer d’Alene, Idaho; daughter-in-law, Jan Shelby of Spokane, Washington; daughter, Suzi Shelby Stanger and her husband, Jim Stanger of Helena, Montana; and son, Joe Shelby and his wife, Amber Shelby of Highland, Utah.
Dale LeRoy Shelby was so proud of his family and he loved his 14 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Until we are together again, we love you Dad and thank you for your love, kindness, service, and time with all of us!
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Oakley Stake Center, 355 N. Center Ave., in Oakley. A viewing for family and friends will be held from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Burial will be in Oakley Cemetery.
A live webcast of the Funeral Service will be available at the following link: https://youtu.be/YfiX8LVFzjY.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home of Burley.
