Evalena Mae McIlrath Dale died October 3, 2011 in St. Francis Manor Care Facility, Grinnell, Iowa.  Funeral Services will be Friday, October 7, at 2:00 P.M. at Grace United Methodist Church, Brooklyn, Iowa. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 P.M. Thursday, October 6, 2011 at Kloster Funeral Home, Brooklyn. Burial will be in the Brooklyn Memorial Cemetery. Memorials may be contributed to the Grace United Methodist Church Women.

Evalena Mae McIlrath Dale was born on a cold stormy February 18, 1915 at Hartwick, Iowa, the seventh child (second daughter) of Nathaniel Hugh McIlrath and Stella (Hakeman) McIlrath. She attended Hartwick Public Schools graduating in 1932. She attended Paris Beauty Academy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and then worked as a beautician in Victor, Iowa where she met the love of her life, William Dale, Jr. of Brooklyn, Iowa.

On August 15, 1937 Evalena and Bill were united in marriage, and they made their home on the Dale family farm in rural Brooklyn, Iowa. To this union five children were born; Jerry, Jim, Jan, Joene and Jane. These children came to be known in the family as “The 5 Js”.

After renting a couple of residences, she and Bill purchased their home ½ mile east of Brooklyn in 1944 where she lived for the next 60 years.

Evalena was a Brooklyn community activist, particularly in her commitment to Grace United Methodist Church.  She worked for years in the United Methodist Women, the church school, the choir, and held offices at the district level as well as being a youth camp counselor and Dean of Women. She was a member of Emanon Federated Women’s Club, Pythian Sisters, the Farm Bureau (Poweshiek County’s first female board secretary), The Grange, and many related farm groups.  She served as a 4-H leader for many years.  She worked as an election official to express her commitment to responsible citizenship.  She was employed at Wagner’s Grocery Store for seventeen years and at the Wagon Wheel Dress Shop for four years.

Evalena especially loved singing, being a lead alto in the church choir, singing with a women’s quartet, and attending and encouraging her children’s musical activities.

Her family was the priority of her life, organizing family reunions and celebrating the joy of children and cousins.

In the later years of her life she loved traveling with her husband Bill all over the United States and beyond.  After Bill’s death in 1993, she lived alone in their home until 2005 when she moved to Seeland Park Retirement Community in Grinnell.  There she resided until moving to St. Francis Manor Care Center on June 20, 2011 where she lived until her death on October 3, 2011.

She was preceded in death by her husband Bill Dale, Jr. in 1993; her parents, N.H. and Stella McIlrath; six siblings; Leona Martin, Clair McIlrath, Elven McIlrath, Bernard McIlrath, Floyd McIlrath, and Clifford McIlrath.

She is survived by five children and spouses: Jerry and Mary Dale of Brooklyn, Iowa; Jim and Barb Dale of Grinnell, Iowa; Jan and Donna Dale of Ames, Iowa; Joene and Bill Edwards of Eagan, Minnesota; and Jane and Steve Fritz of Marshalltown, Iowa; one sister, Lila Foster of Las Vegas, Nevada; fifteen grandchildren; twenty-two great-grandchildren; endless nieces and nephews and many wonderful friends.