Dale Winston Jessen

Dale Winston Jessen quietly and peacefully passed away on March 2nd 2022 at 8:30am in the company of his wife and daughters singing “Simple Gifts”. During his long and difficult battle with cancer he was blessed with small victories, and those around him bore witness to his courage, humor, adoration for his family, and nature.

George and Evelyn Jessen welcomed Dale into this world in Miami on October 30th 1943 and by his own account made sure he lived a life full of kindness for others and respect for the earth he cultivated in his garden. He grew up in the company of his brothers, Jay, Chuck, Wayne, and George and amassed a repertoire of adventures in Winona, Minnesota whether it be fishing for walleye on the Mississippi River or getting caught in snow storms.

He attended Winona State University and majored in mathematics. He put the knowledge he gained to good use by serving in the US Navy for about two years including one overseas. During his service he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal. Following an honorable discharge, he later moved to Alexandria, Virginia where he met Monroe Fendrich, who introduced him to his future wife Audrey. The two married and settled down in Charlottesville, Virginia, with Dale being employed by Sperry Marine which later became Northrop Grumman. There, he designed submarine radar tools and he became locally known as Mr. ADF (the Automatic Direction Finder, for which he received a patent) and that the Navy often leaned on him for his expertise. This led to frequent trips overseas which yielded many adventures too numerous to mention here.

Dale knew early in his life he wanted to be a father of girls, and the good Lord gave him two: Meredith and Bethany. They grew up in the comfort of their Charlottesville home with their dad teaching them how to fish, plant peas in the garden, compost, and raised them with a never-wavering respect for humankind and the nature around them. Weekends were often spent tubing on the James or making leaf boats at Sugar Hollow.

Dale’s love of travel and his work at Sperry led to an opportunity to spend more than one summer in a tiny village in France, Saint-Jean-d'Aulps with the family. These travels instilled a genuine love of France; Meredith would later go on to major in French and marry a French teacher, Mitch Hayes, and Bethany would eventually meet her future husband, John Cagnol, a Frenchman, at a carwash in Charlottesville and move to Paris.

The family grew to include four grandchildren; Meredith and Mitch welcomed Anja and Nicholas and then Bethany and John followed with Charlotte and Benjamin. Just like for his daughters, Dale taught his grandkids on both sides of the Atlantic how to plant peas, compost, and continued to be an example of love, respect and devotion to family.

Later in his life, he fell in love with Amboise, France where he and Audrey spent many of their summers chatting with the local bread, sausage, and cheese vendors or sitting on the sundeck sipping “kirs” (a mix of white wine and red-currant liqueur). They moved to Gulfport, Florida and were fully embraced by their wonderful neighbors, (a.k.a. the “motley crew of 51st Street”) where Dale became famous for his mojitos. His strength waned and he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma which he fought courageously. A second cancer diagnosis was a hard blow and his warm and loving spirit joined the good Lord on March 2nd 2022. But his soul, his voice, his warm hugs, and everlasting love has also taken up residence in the hearts of his dear wife, his two adoring daughters, his sons-in-law, his grandchildren, and everyone else who knew him. He will be deeply missed.

Donations can be made to the Gulfport Community Garden (https://gofund.me/4dcd0ced) or simply plant something in your garden in his honor. A service will be held in Gulfport, Florida at later date, possibly at the beginning of May.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.beachmemorial.com for the Jessen family.