Memorial to My Dad

Obituary for Richard Lyle Dalzell, Jr.
Feb. 1, 1939—Feb. 15, 2009

Richard Lyle “Dick” Dalzell, Jr., 70, of Meridian, Idaho crossed over from this life to Heaven on Feb. 15, 2009. He passed over with his wife, Sue, and brother, Ron, near his side.

Dick was born Feb. 1, 1939 in Portland, Oregon, the first son of Lyle and Gertrude Dalzell. As the son of a preacher, his family moved often and he attended grade school in Weiser, ID, Jr. High in Seattle, WA, and graduated from Caldwell H.S. (ID) in 1957. He was baptized in June of 1951 in Seattle. He entered Abilene Christian College in 1957, came back to Idaho to attend Magic Valley Christian College in Albion for a year, and then returned to Abilene where he graduated with a BA in applied music, summa cum laude, in 1961. He received a Master of Music degree in voice and choral performance from the U. of Idaho in 1964. He did further studies under such well-known choral conductors as John Finley Williamson, Robert Shaw, Norman Luboff, Helmut Rilling, and Eric Ericson. In 1976 Dick was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities stipend in early American Music, which led to a summer spent in Lawrence, Kansas at KU.

Dick met a young lady named Sue in the fall of 1957. Sue was one of the Idaho kids – she was from Lewiston – that rode together down to Abilene. Apparently, there was a girls’ car and a guys’ car traveling together, but the guys’ car had too many people so somehow Dick managed to volunteer to ride with the girls. By March of that year they were dating and then Dick “recruited” her to come with him back to Idaho to attend the newly opened Magic Valley Christian College for their sophomore year. It wasn’t long before he was showing her around to family as his fiancée! Dick wed Margaret Sue Bauder on March 25, 1959 at the Church of Christ in Twin Falls, ID. They would have celebrated their 50th anniversary this March.

He preached for the Church of Christ in Lewiston and then Nampa, ID before beginning a long (34+ year) career as a choral director and music educator. He taught at Ontario H.S. from 1965-67 and at Treasure Valley C.C. from 1967-79 where he served as the head of the music department. In Portland, OR, he was professor of choral & vocal music from 1979-93 at Columbia Christian College where his groups appeared numerous times at state and regional conventions. At Columbia, he mentored many young music education majors as well as nurturing the spiritual lives of perhaps hundreds of students. The Dalzell home was always packed full of students for Wednesday night Bible studies and many other nights for games and fun. In 1993 he received the Columbia Christian College Arête Award in recognition of excellence and achievement and the Carolyn Farris Service Award in appreciation of dedication and outstanding service to the students of CCC.

After Columbia closed, he became choral director at North Salem H.S. (OR) from 1993-2001. He received the Music Educator of the Year award in 2001 from the Oregon Symphony Association of Salem.

An active member of the Oregon Music Educators Association, the American Choral Directors Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, he served in many leadership positions, including terms as the Oregon and the Northwest ACDA President. He was on the OMEA State Board of Control for eighteen years, including terms as District IX Chairman, Collegiate Membership Chairman, and OSAA Liaison. He was a frequent choral & vocal adjudicator and directed over 30 honor choir festivals throughout his career. After retiring and moving to Meridian, he directed the Mountain States Tumor Institutes “MSTI Melodies,” a choral group of cancer survivors, caregivers, and MSTI staff. Throughout his lifetime he has been active as a leader at church, serving stints as an elder at the Central Church of Christ in Portland and at the Boise Church of Christ. He most recently served on the boards of the Biblical Studies Center and Camp Ivydale.

He is survived by his wife, Sue; his two sons, Dan (& Lani) of Gresham, OR, and Randy (& Charlene) of Portland, OR; three brothers, Ron (& Cathy) of Oxnard, CA, Dave (& Joyce) of Abilene, TX, and Doug of Birmingham, AL; seven grandchildren, Hannah, Micah, Caleb, Levi, Allison, DJ, and Matthew; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

A memorial service was held at the Boise Church of Christ, 2000 N Eldorado St., Boise, ID, 83704 at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Biblical Studies Center or Camp Ivydale (c/o the Boise Church of Christ).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memories & Lessons from my Dad

(I read this -- as best I could -- at his memorial service.)
If you ever set off walking with my dad, you know he walked fast! I remember as a young boy having to almost run to keep up. Walking across campus at Columbia, you’d find yourself huffing and puffing to keep up. Even just last year when we went to the ACDA NW Convention in Vancouver, BC, I recall having to walk fast to keep with his pace.

More about dad’s walking later, but allow me for a minute to just recall some of the special and perhaps unique things about my dad. . .

Colorful ties! Oh yeah, you all remember the wild colors and patterns. Christmas ties, scripture ties, Jerry Garcia ties, music ties. I guess it’s fitting that the Dalzell tartan tie is a bright pattern. And did you know he wore colorful socks too? I only realized this two weeks ago when I was here for his 70th birthday. I went to look in his dress socks drawer for a plain dark pair of socks and all I could find were all these plaids and argyles and such – not a solid color to be found!

Popcorn! Sunday nights were always popcorn night (& sometimes other nights too). Now when we were little, after church we’d take an empty gallon jug to the Red Steer Drive-in in Ontario and get it refilled with root beer. Then we’d take it home to have with our popcorn. Later dad started buying his popcorn by the 50 lb. bag from the Crookham Co. in Caldwell! He’d go through one of those in about a year. After we moved to Portland, he’d buy a bag whenever he was on a trip over this way. He even had my friend Phill Hurley, who’s from Caldwell, pick it up for him a couple of times.

Cooking. Dad liked to cook – especially on holidays, but other times too. He exposed Randy and I to things like homemade Chinese food – egg foo yung and chop suey. He made overnight refrigerator rolls. I can hardly remember a holiday for quite some time that he didn’t make those. And things on the grill, most notably salmon. Whenever my family has salmon now, we almost always think of “grandpa”.

Jam in little jars. This was mostly in the last decade or so. He made a bunch of different kinds of jams & jellies each year and then at Christmas time, family member would each get a box full of the various varieties, all with neat little labels telling what kind and when it was made.

Singing in church – loudly! Whether sitting right next to my folks as a kid, or across the auditorium in later years, you could always hear dad (& mom too!) above the rest of the congregation.

Some other memories from my younger days. . . Dad staying up late each Christmas Eve to play Santa. And often he might be out in the garage or shop making something. Randy mentioned the ping pong matches, but I also remember him shooting baskets with us at Alameda Elementary school after work. Those were some special times.

And then there are the many times you’d find him watching the late news, or most often sitting in a recliner with his eyes closed and his mouth wide open. This must be genetic, because I do that too!

There are other things I do like him to. There are many things he taught me.
The love of singing! He was my constant example. His was the voice I heard as a boy and tried to copy as a young man. He was my first voice teacher and my favorite choir director. Some choral directors don’t make it very enjoyable for you as a singer, but dad was nearly always fun to sing for. The expectations were high and we worked hard, but the performances were always exciting.

Then there was the joy of building things and doing home improvement projects. My whole life I saw him remodeling a room, or fixing things, or even building his own home. Dad was the total do-it-yourself home handyman. And each house I’ve lived in, he came and helped me repair and remodel. With his example and instruction, I’ve learned to be a total home handyman too.

There were some things that dad did that most of my friends’ dads didn’t – I mean besides singing and directing choirs! Dad did a lot of the grocery shopping and, as we’ve recalled, liked to cook too! The ladies – which is pretty much everyone – at the elementary school I work at think it’s odd that I like to do the grocery shopping for my family and often cook dinner. They don’t know that I’m just being like my dad.
Dad was a God-loving, spiritual man. He served God with the gifts he was given and claimed God’s grace for the times he missed the mark. I think I’ve tried to follow that too.

So, remember how I talked about how fast my dad walked? Well, that’s kind of how he taught me and Randy and many of you too. He led by example. He set a fast pace. He put the bar up high. He showed often that he could do something and inspired each of us to try it too. I learned from my dad to not just do a job, but to do it to the best of my ability. I learned to pay attention to the fine details. I’m thankful for the many experiences and lessons learned from him. Dad was not a perfect man, but he was a man who aimed higher than most and did well at what he set out to do. I’m going to miss him a lot, but he lives on in all of us. So when I stay up late on Christmas Eve, or lead others in singing, or tear into something on my house, or go grocery shopping, or just try to walk faster, I’m going to remember my dad and be thankful for his example and the time with him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Celebration Service of Christian Hope for
Richard L. Dalzell, Jr.

Saturday, February 21, 2009  3:00pm

Welcome & Scripture Reading – led by Kevin Skidmore

Opening Prayer – led by Stan Kilpatrick

Congregational Song– led by Scott Shappard
“To God Be the Glory”
Special Group Song – “Blessed Be Your Name”
Joe & Pam Burris, Kent & Kim Hamilton, Rob & Nancy Quick, Phill Hurley, Kathy Stanley

Obituary – read by David Dalzell

Congregational Song– led by Scott Shappard
“Wonderful Grace of Jesus”
Special Music Solo – Phill Hurley
“How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”

Sons’ Reflections – Randy and Dan Dalzell

Special Group Song – “There’s a Stirring”

Eulogy – from Kevin Skidmore

Special Music Solo – Bonnie Salewski (of MSTI Melodies)
“Great is Thy Faithfulness”

Visual Memorybook – prepared by Marsha Strange

Congregational Song– led by Scott Shappard
“How Great Thou Art”

Remembrances / Open Mic Time – led by Kevin Skidmore

Closing Prayer – led by Rudy Morrow