Alfred George Dale

Alfred George Dale November 23, 1926 – May 5, 2009 "Our Father we thank thee for these and all your blessings: our children, grandchildren, friends, creatures, and all the other blessings of this life." The core of this blessing was said everyday in the Dale household for over 45 years, adding those for whom we were thankful as they came along. Al Dale lived his life counting his blessings. He was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, in 1926, the son of Alfred John and Marjorie Thomas Dale. He graduated from Wolstanton Grammar School and Exeter College, Oxford. Between high school and college he served in the British Air Force in Egypt, during the birth of Israel when everyone was shooting at the British. As a result, he never sat in a restaurant with his back to the door. Following his graduation from Oxford in 1951, he came to the US on a Smith-Mundt fellowship to study at The University of Texas. As he liked to say "I liked Austin, so I stayed." He taught statistics in the Business School while a graduate student and received his Ph.D. in 1961. He was Chief of Applications and Theoretical Groups at the Linguistics Research Center for two years until the Computer Sciences Department was formed at UT, at which time he became one of the founding members of this new department. During his long and illustrious career at UT, he also taught in the School of Library Science, served as a Research Scientist at the Computation Center, and was Associate Director of the Institute for Computing Science and Computer Applications. He served as Chairman of the CS Department twice and was closely involved with bringing MCC to Austin. He retired in 1992 as Regents Professor Emeritus. He then went on to found and direct the Software Quality Institute until 1996. Al supervised nine dissertations in the new field of computing and served on countless other dissertation and master's committees. He and his wife Nell often worked together in the early years and among his numerous papers were six co-authored with Nell. Al was one of the co-founders of MRI Systems Corporations, one of the first software companies in Austin. He was a technical advisor for the United Nations in Bratislava and spent almost three years as Director of the United Nations Development Program's International Computer Education Center in Budapest, Hungary. He reviewed UNDP computing research programs in Israel, the Philippines, and India. He was National Science Foundation representative to the Soviet Academy of Sciences in the Collaborative US-USSR program on Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the Field of Applications of Computers to Management. The family once asked Al of what he was most proud. His list included speaking fluent German and French and passable Italian, Russian, Czech, and Hungarian; cooking gourmet meals, especially leg of lamb; being involved with the founding of MRI; being instrumental in bringing MCC to Austin; and attending his beloved Exeter College, Oxford. Al was also much involved with his church (St. Michael's Episcopal Church), serving as Senior Warden twice and reading the Old Testament lesson on Christmas Eve for over 40 years. He loved classical music and never missed a symphony concert or opera performance. He had impeccable taste in clothing, food, and wine. He loved to shop for Nell and prepare gourmet meals for his family and friends. He loved to travel and sit in sidewalk cafes around the world absorbing the atmosphere. But most of all, Al loved his family: his wife, colleague, and best friend Nell; his children Judith Dale and her husband Philip Vitek, June Dale Gormley and her husband John, Robert Dale and his wife Maricarmen, Susan Dale Toth and her husband Christopher, and Sarah Dale Anderson and her husband Jim; his grandchildren Jimmie, Kate, Alex, Becca, Lila, Christopher, John Robert, and Kit; his great granddaughter Sage; Al's first wife Elizabeth Dale, who attended all the family gatherings in the later years; and the Labrador dogs from Nikki to Winston, who gave him such joy. The family wishes to express their gratitude to Dr. Anthony Aventa, Al's favorite doctor, our Hospice Austin team, and the staff at Colonial Gardens, an Alzheimer's home where Al spent his last two years being lovingly cared for. A memorial service will be held at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 1500 N. Capital of Texas Highway. In lieu of flowers, you may make a contribution in Al's name to Hospice Austin at 4107 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78759 or the chancel choir at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 1500 Capital of Texas Highway, Austin, Texas 78746.