Dale Lawrence Schwarz

Dale was born January 1, 1930 in Chapman, Nebraska in his parents’ uninsulated farmhouse. He passed away March 29, 2021 in Grand Junction, Colorado. His parents were Lawrence Schwarz and Doris (Snideman) Schwarz. He was the oldest of 4 children.

His father farmed near Chapman for several years before moving to the Delta, Colorado area, where his parents continued to farm until they started the Schwarz Nursing Home in their home in Delta in 1941. When the business outgrew their home, they bought the St. Mariana Monastery building and established their business there. Dale learned to enjoy work at an early age, watering and mowing lawns, helping his parents in the nursing home, and cleaning a jewelry store and a bank office.

Dale graduated from Campion Academy, a boarding high school in Loveland, Colorado, in 1947. Besides his studies and work schedule, while at Campion he climbed Longs Peak several times. At Campion he skied on army surplus Tenth Mountain Division skis. As a sophomore he met his future wife Uarda Elaine Radspinner.

During the summer of 1947 Dale worked as an orderly at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, when it was located on Colorado Avenue. During that summer he also traveled around western Colorado working for a beekeeper.

Dale attended Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, played tennis, and worked part time in the college boiler room and at Bryan Memorial Hospital. However, his favorite activity was spending time with Uarda.

Dale’s grandpa Snideman had encouraged him to marry Uarda, telling Dale, “You’re both 19, she’s wonderful, so why wait?” Dale proposed in scenic Garden of the Gods in Uarda’s childhood hometown, Colorado Springs. She said, “Yes!” He married the love of his life, Uarda, on July 17, 1949.

Dale graduated from Northwest Institute of Medical Technology, Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1951.

Dale and Uarda moved from Minneapolis to Montrose, Colorado, where he worked as a lab\x-ray technician. His elder son Steve was born there. He also worked toward and got his private pilot’s license.

In 1952 the family moved to Cody, Wyoming. Their second son Joe was born there. Dale was the only lab\x-ray technician at the Cody Hospital. Local veterinarians did not have x-ray equipment and would sometimes bring dogs in for x-rays. One time Dale took an x-ray machine to the loading dock to x-ray a sedated colt. After it was determined that the colt’s leg was broken a surgeon and the veterinarian put a cast on the leg there on the dock.

The family moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico in 1955, where Dale worked in the lab\x-ray department at Carlsbad Hospital. In Carlsbad Dale belonged to the Lions Club and served with the police auxiliary.

In 1958 Dale moved his family to Grand Junction, Colorado, where Dale worked in the St. Mary’s Hospital lab at the then new building on Rose Hill. Dr. Geno Saccomanno and Dr. Richard Saunders were the only pathologists for western Colorado and eastern Utah. Dr. Saunders would fly his private plane to small rural hospital labs to consult and Dale often accompanied him.

At St. Mary’s Dale became the first treasurer of the fledgling Rose Hill Credit Union, established for St. Mary’s employees and family members. Dale’s treasurer’s office was a shoe box kept in a locked drawer in the lab.

In the late 1960’s Dale was designated Chief Technologist. In the early 1970’s he became Lab Director.

Dale’s life was shattered when Uarda was diagnosed with breast cancer and she passed away at age 59.

In his final years of employment at St. Mary’s he enjoyed working in the blood donor center recruiting blood donors and he was relieved to not have to be responsible for lab administration. Dale retired in 2015 after being employed by St. Mary’s for 57 years.

Dale loved Uarda dearly. Through his remaining years, including the last year of his life, he life he often said to his sons, “I sure do miss your mother!”

Dale loved his extended family, too - his parents, siblings, sons, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, grandson, and nieces and nephews. Each of them appears in some of the hundreds of photos he took through the years.

Dale found relaxation and fulfillment caring for his yard and tending his fruit trees.

He was adventurous, taking Uarda on motorcycle rides over Grand Mesa and the Colorado National Monument. He hiked Crag Crest trail on Grand Mesa several times. After life-saving cardiac bypass surgery at age 71 he began a regular, vigorous exercise regimen at the gym and enjoyed new friendships there.

Dale enjoyed eating. A special favorite was “coffee and sweet rolls”. His favorite restaurant was undoubtedly The Golden Corral.

He had a natural mechanical ability and could maintain and repair anything in his home.

Dale was out in in nature as much as his busy life allowed. He hunted deer and elk as a young man but in his later years preferred looking at trees and listening to birds.

He taught his sons to fish, hike, throw a ball, shoot a rifle, ride a bike, pitch a tent, drive a stick shift, and take pride in work done well.

Dale was a faithful, participating member of the Grand Junction Seventh-day Adventist Church, where at various times he taught an adult class, taught a boys class, served as an elder, head elder, and as school board chairman for Intermountain Junior Academy. He contributed musically by singing bass in a men’s quartet; he also sang many solos. He was a member of the executive committee of the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists from 1982 to 1988. His faith, especially later in life, was simple and uncomplicated: he would often exclaim, “We have such a wonderful Lord and Savior!”

Dementia affected Dale during the last 6 years of his life. In December 2020 he fell in the kitchen of the house in which he had lived since 1966 and broke his hip. He had hip replacement surgery, then was transferred to a rehabilitation center. He never fully recovered.

Dale is survived by son Steve Schwarz (Judy), son Joe Schwarz, grandson Jonathan Schwarz (Lauren), granddaughter Julia Timmerman (Travis), sister Phyllis Krueger (Arlo), and numerous nieces and nephews. His wife Uarda, his parents, and his brother Gerald preceded him in death. His sister Wilette Clark (Frank) passed away May 18, 2021.

In lieu of sending flowers memorial contributions may be sent to the following two organizations (please write “Dale Schwarz memorial" on check):

Grand Junction Seventh-day Adventist Church, 550 25 ½ Rd, Grand Junction, CO 81505;

St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation, P.O. Box 1628, Grand Junction, CO 81502.