James Earl Dale

James Earl Dale passed into eternal rest on September 20, 2020 in his Harlingen, Texas residence at age 77. Jim was born in Texarkana, Texas to Earl and Mildred Dale on November 7, 1942. In 1950, the family first called the Valley home after moving to McAllen and later, after a brief stint in McAlester, OK, returned, this time to Harlingen. Jim excelled in sports and was an essential presence in the Cardinal offensive backfields of the late 1950’s under coach Joe Hamrick. After graduation, he followed his high school sweetheart, Betty Jean Turner, out to California where they were married in Sacramento on November 8, 1963. While there, Jim earned a marketing degree from American River College in 1967. With his own young family in tow, he eventually returned to Harlingen in 1973 to help guide his father’s recent startup, Valley Coffee Service. Jim took the reins shortly thereafter and built his business into a success through hard work and a passion for customer service. It was a true family affair, with Betty covering the books and phones while the kids headed out on the road with him for deliveries, sales, and everything in between from South Padre Island to Mission and up to Raymondville. The business provided for the family in many ways, not the least of which were life lessons in integrity, trust and relationship building.

Jim’s second act began with the thoracic aneurysm that he suffered in August 2000. He beat heavy odds to survive the operation necessary to save his life and, by God’s grace, was able to stay active in business and community affairs for years thereafter. His dedication to family and his values in life were consistent with the Bible’s teachings and he gained much satisfaction in being a servant of the Lord. Jim’s steadfast courage in facing the hills and valleys of life especially in this period provided a continuing education to his family and friends. We can only hope to emulate the character, strength and dignity with which he faced these fundamental challenges. Jim’s sense of humor, his passion for reading, history, singing, everything Scottish and Irish-all the things we’ll miss among so many others. His is a legacy of inspiration and, most importantly, love.

Farewell for now, Dad, we’ll all be together again someday.

Jim is preceded in death by his parents, Earl and Mildred Dale, and daughter, Julie. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Betty, along with 3 children, Jennifer Pitts (Jeff) of Weslaco, TX, Jeff Dale of Harlingen, TX and Jon Dale (Paty Feria) of Elsa, TX; 4 grandchildren, Sydney (Herb) Berkley of Edinburg, TX, Jared James (Maritza) Pitts of Las Vegas, NV, Rebecca Dale, Victoria Dale and 1 great-grandchild, Eden Berkley. Also surviving Jim is his brother, Jerry Dale, of Houston, Texas.

Betty was the common denominator in Jim’s survival through the challenges to his health over the past 20 years. Her determination and patience buoyed his spirits and reinforced his tendency to work that much harder at recovery.

We would like to recognize the multitude of physicians who contributed so much of their time to Jim’s care over the years, including J. Coselli (Texas Heart Institute), W. Torkildsen, J. Savinon (and staff), D. Asase (and staff), O. Sanusi, D. Narro (Weslaco), N. Sarhill, M. Evans, L. Eguia, C. Teeter, R. Crous and B. Simpson (UT-San Antonio). We are also appreciative of staff at Valley Baptist Medical Center, the VBMC Inpatient Rehabilitation Center and Kindred Hospice for their service on Jim’s behalf. We also extend a special gratitude to private care provider Jesse Zambrano and to Jim’s “special angels”, Debbie Hicks and Linda Cosco.

We thank the Church of Christ at Laurel Heights for all the love, prayers, and deeds done to help sustain our family. Most importantly we thank God, the Father of lights for his precious Son Jesus Christ through whom we also received the blessing of this dear loving man, husband, dad, and friend, James Earl Dale. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17)."

Graveside services will be held at Restlawn Memorial Park in La Feria, Texas on Wednesday September 23, 2020 at 10:30 am.