sawmills to sunfish V.F. DALE
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VERNON F. DALE
Vernon F. Dale was born in Galesville, Wiscon-
sin, around the turn of the century, to Marshal and
Charlotte (Williams) Dale. The Dales operated the
Kneeland Farm in Dale Valley located just outside
of Galesville. The farms in this valley were estab-
lished by Vern's grandfather, Joseph Dale.
Marshal Dale later began working for the
railroad and was transferred to Seattle, Washington
in 1907. Four of the children who were born in
Wisconsin went with their parents but Vern, the
oldest of ten children, went to live with his Aunt
Jess' Ruplin in North La Crosse. The five younger
children were born in Seattle. Mrs. Dale died there
at a young age in 1916.
While living in Galesville with his parents, Vern
attended elementary school there through the sixth
grade. This was his only formal education.
The Carl Ruplins, who raised Vern, operated a
bakery and Vern's job was to deliver bakery goods
with a horse and cart. It is recalled that Vern often
said, "I had to peddle hot rolls to the rich people
early in the morning."
At age 13 he opened his own bicycle repair shop
on Rose Street. As he grew older he was very fond
of riding motorcycles and often performed stunts
and other dangerous acts. On one occasion he se-
verely injured his arm. Dr. Thornton, an osteopath,
who had just started practice in this area, is cred-
ited with saving his arm.
When Vern returned from the Service, he
married Frances Whitbeck and went into business
selling Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In 1920 their
daughter, Elizabeth Jean, was born.
During the year 1919, Vern opened Dale's Super
Service Garage, located on Second Street between
H and I Streets. He often said that he had the
"biggest auto repair shop in the Northwest." He
employed 50 persons in this business. During this
time he also started the Onalaska Transportation
Company that ran from Onalaska to La Crosse. The
bus carried passengers, packages and mail.
Vern was stricken with tuberculosis during the
late 1920's. He was treated at the River Pines
Sanatorium in Stevens Point and at the Oak Forest
Sanatorium in Onalaska for two years. He also
recuperated in Arizona for two years. While he was
in the sanatoriums, he developed a protective
coating for preserving guns and fishing reels.
While he was ill, he had incorporated his em-
ployees into his garage business but the business
failed in his absence and was closed. When he re-
gained his health, he had to make a new start. He
began to produce and sell the gun lubricant he had
developed, under the name of "Gun Slick." He
worked from the basement of his home at 401
South Fourth Street and sold the product through
the mail.
During this time he had divorced his first wife,
Frances, and married Marita Aldrich of Onalaska.
Marita was a chemist and assisted him in his busi-
ness and with developing new products. He soon
moved the operation to Second and Main St. His
daughter, Jean, and Wendall Schupple worked for
him. By about 1936, the business had developed to
the extent that he opened "Outers Laboratories" in
his old garage building on Second Street. Oscar
Egeland was his sales manager and Miss June
Kratzer was his secretary.
Also during the late 1920's and early '30's, plans
were developing to build the dams on the Missis-
sippi and the Black Rivers in this area. The dams
would cause flooding on the river bottom land and
islands in the Black River and portions of French
Island. Vern had foresight to buy a large amount of
vacant land on Brice Prairie. During the winter be-
fore construction of the dam took place, he was
able to take ownership of many cabins and summercottages on the islands and river banks, and move
them across the ice onto Brice Prairie and rebuild
them there. When Lake Onalaska was formed be-
hind the dam, he had many lake shore cottages to
sell and much prime lake shore property. At one
time he said that he owned all the land from the
"railroad tracks to the point of the prairie." Earl
Page, a contractor in Onalaska, helped with mutch
of the moving and construction work.
From 1946 to 1949 Vern was the general manager
of the Bump Pump Co. in La Crosse. He also
formed a partnership with his brother, Dave Dale,
Bill Johnson, and Earl Olson, a lithographer. This
firm, called Metallics, was managed by his brother
Dave. The company manufactured nameplates and
was located on South Avenue in La Crosse. This
building was destroyed by fire. In 1946, Vern
rebuilt the Metallics plant on Brice Prairie. A fire
also damaged Outers Laboratories on Second Street
in 1945, but the business continued to operate
there. In 1952 Outers Laboratories was moved to a
new plant on Brice Prairie.
Dale got into the farming business on the Prairie,
too, during these busy years. His wife, Marita, and
a new secretary, Earline Olson, had been renting
horses to ride several mornings a week. He felt it
would be more economical to own horses and
utilize the farm land and buildings he had recently
purchased on Brice Prairie, known as the Roellig
Farm. He purchased several riding horses. Rather
than to buy feed for the animals, he began to
produce his own hay and corn. This became the
Circle D Ranch where Quarter Horse Association
Champions were raised. He soon found he had
more feed than these animals could eat so he
bought some cows. That was the beginning of a
very large farming operation known as the Vern
Dale Beef Farms. In 1960 he owned 4,000 acres of
farm land and two large herds of cattle. He raised
registered Angus and registered Hereford cattle.
While he worked at all of these personal endeav-
ors, Vern was active in his community also. He
served on the Board of Directors of the Oak Forest
Sanatorium, and the Community Loan and Finance
Association. He was a 50-year member of the
Masonic Lodge, and will be remembered for being
a willing contributor to most civic, school and
church projects. He gave a yearly donation to each
of the churches in the city, asking that he remain
anonymous, although he was not a member of any
one of them.
His dedication to hard work and his ability to
achieve was proven when his company, Outers
Laboratories, was awarded the Army-Navy E Award
(Award of Excellence) three times during World
War II, and also the Sears Excellency Award.
Disasters continued to plague Vern, however, as
Outers Laboratories was damaged by fire once
again, and a tornado struck the factory in 1963
causing much damage. The roof was torn from the
building and draperies from the office were found
as far away as Mindoro. Despite this, his operations
continued to flourish at Metallics, Outers Laborato-ries, and the Farms, and land was being sold and
many new houses were being constructed on Brice
Prairie.
After his wife's, Marita, death in 1966, Vern
married his secretary, Earline Olson. They built a
lovely home on the point of the Prairie. It is built
of huge rocks taken from the bluffs on land that he
owned in German Valley, near Centerville. The
view of Lake Onalaska is superb from the porches
and the deck of this home. The gates at the drive-
way were preserved from the Cargill Home in La
Crosse before it was torn down.
Vern died on April 28, 1976, while he was on a
vacation in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is buried
in the Galesville Cemetery.
Before Mr. Dale's death, he had specified that a
substantial portion of his estate be used to establish
the "Vernon F. Dale Charitable Trust." He named
31 charities, most of which are located in the Ona-
laska and La Crosse area, whose primary functions
are in religious, medical, educational and youth ser-
vices. The charities receive the annual investment
income from the Trust. In 1983 the income was ap-
proximately $700,000.
What kind of a man was Vern Dale to have
achieved so much despite health problems and oth-
er misfortunes?
He usually wore a work shirt and trousers to
work, and spent most of his time in his factories in
contact with all of his employees, from the me-
chanic and the assembly-line worker, to the custo-
dian. He knew his entire business well and loved
it. He had developed the product, designed most of
the machinery to produce it, and also planned and
designed the factory in which it was made. It is
said that he ran his business with an "iron hand,
but a gold heart."
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
V UNGR CVAR GERR PNPURF