Dale Stansbury Bernard

Born in Washington D.C. on March 21, 1945, to British Naval Officer Cyril Stansbury and former American Navy WAVE Margaret Barksdale of Conyers, Georgia, Dale’s earliest years were spent in Towcester, England. Her family returned to the States after several years abroad and ultimately settled in North Carolina, where Dale was raised. Following graduation from Grimsley High School in Greensboro, she matriculated to Duke University, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in art history in 1966. At Duke, she met the love of her life and her future husband of 43 years, Dan Bernard, who was finishing his law degree.

Her first professional job was with the Georgia Archives in Atlanta, Georgia. After Dan and Dale were married in Decatur, Georgia in 1968, they moved to the U.S. Naval Station at Sangley Point in the Philippines, where Dale served as a school secretary while Dan served in the Navy Jag Corps. Dale often recalled those years, those adventures, and those lifelong friends with great fondness.

The Bernards established family and community roots in Boulder County in 1970. Dale relished being a “stay-at-home” mom for the first 13 years they lived in Longmont, volunteering her time for a variety of community causes and organizations. She served as President of the local League of Women Voters, Chair for the Longmont Library Board, Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, Chair of the Longmont Area Chamber’s Leadership Development Council, and served on the Boards of the Friends of the Library and the Longmont Council for the Arts. She was a Brownie and Girl Scout Leader, and was a member of P.E.O. and Sunshine Club. In 1985, after volunteering for many years with the St. Vrain Historical Society, Dale went to work for the organization, retiring as Executive Director after 20 years of service in 2005. In her twilight years, Dale served on the Board of the Longmont Museum and as a two-term President for the Longmont Community Foundation, where she was instrumental in overseeing significant growth during her tenure.

Dale’s interests and passions included historical education and preservation, international travel, cooking, reading, and sports fandom (particularly Duke Blue Devil basketball and the Denver Broncos). She loved playing a good hand of bridge and participating in her neighborhood book club. Her most cherished activities were spending time with her grandchildren: laughing, playing games, completing puzzles, and telling stories around the kitchen table after preparing a delicious meal.

Dale was the consummate hostess. Her Southern hospitality, eye for detail, and sense of humor guaranteed fun and fellowship. To all of her relationships – both personal and professional, family and community - she brought warmth, humility, generosity, and intelligence.

Dale is preceded in death by her husband, Dan. She is survived by her daughter, Kate Buchanan (Phil), and their sons, Blake (Elaina), Holden, and Graham; her son, Ryan Bernard (Leah), and their daughters, Ada, Lucy, and Norah; her sister, Susan Mroch (Tom), and her brother, Richard Stansbury (Marilyn), and dozens of nieces and nephews.

A service of remembrance will be held on Saturday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel, followed immediately by a reception at the historic Callahan House & Garden next door (a fitting location as for many years Dale’s Historical Society office was in the property’s Carriage House).

Donations can be made in Dale’s memory to the Eagle Fund at the Longmont Community Foundation, a field of interest fund she established that supports community relief needs, historic education and preservation, and women’s causes (https://longmont.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list), or the Daniel F. & Dale S. Bernard Scholarship Fund at Duke University School of Law (https://www.gifts.duke.edu/law?designation=6180372). Share condolences and memories with Dale’s family at www.ahlbergfuneralchapel.com.