LODI - Dale Royal Ness died after a long sunset sojourn with dementia on July 12, 2023, at Agrace HospiceCare in Fitchburg.

Dale was born to Verna (VonWald) Ness and Thomas Ness in Lodi on April 26, 1936, the fifth of 12 siblings. He was raised in, and a lover of, his hometown of Lodi. Dale’s parents both worked in Lodi; his father Thomas, together with Dale’s Norwegian immigrant grandfather, Lars, at the Nestles Milk Condensory, and his mother, Verna, as a pie maker at the popular Main Street restaurants, Uncle Tom’s Log Cabin and The Downtown Café. He attended Lodi Schools where he played football in high school, was a member of FFA, and was part of the Sunset Lanes Bowling Team. While growing up, Dale, or “Hammer,” as he was affectionately called, grew up always working, and he held various jobs from a young age including on the farm of his sister and brother-in-law, Joyce and Ray Lochner, and on the farm of Zeke Zeman, and at Lodi’s Sunset Lanes. Dale attended Lodi Schools and graduated from Lodi High School in 1955.

Upon graduation, in June of 1955 Dale joined the armed forces. He entered the U.S. Army’s 6th Armored Division and was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for basic training. Thereafter he completed Armored Vehicle Maintenance coursework and training in Fort Knox, Ky., and was deployed, in March of 1956 to Regensberg, Germany where he served as part of U.S. forces fortifying and patrolling the border with East Germany until March of 1957. After returning home to the Lodi area, Dale married Alice Gasser in August of 1958. They settled on the Gasser Brother’s Family Farmstead where they built a small house and raised their family of three children, Brenda (1960), Scott (1963), and Kerrie (1969).

Dale loved his life’s work as a farmer. He was up with the sun and worked hard from morning until night at whatever the task at hand be it planting crops, building fences, baling hay, “rocking the fields,” or farrowing pigs. He was very “handy” and could both build structures and repair anything that broke down. Dale loved listening to the noon-time farm market report, as well as a constant stream of polka and country music in his farm truck. Dale dearly loved his close-knit family of 12 siblings and their large Ness family gatherings which were much anticipated and enjoyed events every year. Dale also loved fishing and going “up North.” In later years, Dale and Alice built a cabin up North as a getaway. They sold this cabin to family, and next built a little house in Lodi, and made a move “to town.” Dale enjoyed his final years “living in town” with his daily visits to see his brothers at Ness Used Cars, as well as trips back out to the farm to “check on Scott,” rides and walks through Garden Bluff Cemetery, and picking and cracking Hickory Nuts. Dale and Alice also took some memorable trips during these later years to the National Parks of the Southwest with brother, Bobby and Dolores Ness, train trips across the U.S. as well as trips to Branson, Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Arizona and Alaska. Dale and Alice, however, most enjoyed, were proud of, and loved their grandchildren - Tyler, Ben and Alex Rashid, and Mai Ling, Zhu Lan and Levi Ness - whom he and Alice looked after while they were growing up, often along with beloved pups, Stanley and Stella.

Dale is survived by his wife of 64 years, Alice Ness; daughter, Brenda Ness; son, Scott (Heidi) Ness; and daughter, Kerrie (Jeff) Rashid; and grandchildren, Tyler Rashid, Ben Rashid, Alex Rashid, Mai Ling Ness, Zhu Lan Ness and Levi Ness. He is further survived by his sisters, Darlene Brisky, Donna Ripp, Ardis Achterberg, and Audrey (Dave) Attoe; and sister-in-law, Judy Ness; and brothers, Charlie, Richard “Tack” (Connie) Ness, and Don (Jean) Ness; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Verna and Thomas Ness; brothers, Robert, Thomas and Jim Ness; and sister, Joyce; as well as in-laws, Ray Lochner, Dolores Ness, Robert Brisky, George Ripp, and Leon Achterberg.

The family would like to extend thanks to Meadow View’s caring staff, and for the compassionate care Dale received in his final days with and at Agrace HospiceCare.

A family burial will take place at GARDEN BLUFF CEMETERY, Highway J, Lodi, at 9 a.m. on Monday, July 24, 2023. A visitation to greet family will take place at LAKE WISCONSIN EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH, N1640 Ryan Road, Lodi, at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 24, 2023, with a short service beginning at 11:30 a.m., and a luncheon to follow.

To honor Dale’s life and hard work as a farmer and for his family, his children will place a memorial bench in his honor on Garden Bluff Cemetery; a place that was much loved by both Dale and Alice, and which overlooks the lands that he farmed for over 50 years. Thus, in lieu of flowers, donations to the family for the Dale Ness Garden Bluff Cemetery Memorial Bench, or to Reach Out Lodi, are suggested. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Lodi

Funeral & Cremation Care

157 S. Main St.

(608) 592-3201

Dale Royal Ness

April 26, 1936 - July 12, 2023

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