Dale Cornwell, a longtime resident of Spokane and Spokane Valley, passed away peacefully on January 27th at the age of 85. Dale was born on September 6, 1935, in Cut Bank, Montana, the son of Raymond and Bertha (Pester) Cornwell. Dale spent his formative years in LaGrande, Oregon, graduating from school there and attending Eastern Oregon University for one year.
In 1954, Dale married his childhood friend and sweetheart Georgia Goold. Together they moved to Spokane where Dale attended night classes at Kinman Business School to become an accountant. During the day, Dale worked at Utter Motors washing and polishing cars. Before long, Dale advanced in the car business and eventually worked his way into new and used car sales. In 1967 Dale became general manager at Buchanan Chevrolet before moving to Becker Buick in 1976 to assume the general manager job with the opportunity to form an ownership partnership. In time Dale became Vice-President of Becker Buick and majority owner. When Dale retired in 2018 at the age of 82, he was able to hand the reins of the business to his youngest son Wayne, who, like Dale, had spent his entire working career in the car business.
Dale displayed an admirable work ethic and his keen business skills helped him and his business achieve success. Dale had a genial, warm personality and made friends easily. He had a way of putting people at ease, making the most of a difficult situation, and keeping things upbeat and positive. As a result, Dale made many lifelong friends and was respected universally within business circles. He was active in the Exchange Club and made many friends there and was generous with his time, talents, and donations to help those in need. He was active in the Spokane Leadership Breakfast Forum as well as being active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Dale loved spending time with his family and loved ones. Dale’s driveway basketball games with his sons were very competitive and very spirited. He loved all sports and supported his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in all their sporting events. Dale and Georgia were a fixture at all the games and it wasn’t unusual for them to drive 700 miles roundtrip to witness a grandchild’s tee ball game! When his family was young, Dale planned yearly camping trips to Priest Lake. As his family got older and had families of their own, Dale would surprise them with trips all over the Northwest where many fond memories were made.
Dale’s family grieves the loss of a generous, big-hearted father, grandfather, and great grandfather, but feel blessed to have enjoyed and been impacted by his love. Dale is survived by his wife of 66 years, Georgia, sons Randy (Nancy); Kyle; Brett (Bev); Wayne (Debbie); and 24 grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Keith.
