Today my family had the honor of
joining the family and friends of Dr. Dale Flowerday to pay tribute
to his memory. I knew him as Uncle Dale for he was an older brother
of my mother’s. He was born and grew up in the heartland of this
country, in Seward, Nebraska, where he learned through experience the
love of the land, its agriculture, and its people. He gave his heart
and soul to learning and teaching about this passion about the land;
he taught many a young agronomy student at the University of Nebraska
at Lincoln and guided many more through their doctoral programs, but,
as one individual said at his service today, his real love was when
he was out “on the land” in the fields.
As a young boy of about 12, I remember
a very special visit from Uncle Dale, Aunt Alice, and the boys. Dale
and the family were heading down to Columbia, South America, to
establish that country’s version of the Agricultural Extension
Service. The time was a long two years, but the country was, no
doubt, much the better for his time and experience.
It might have been a part of that same
time with them before their trip south that Dale, his family, and I
headed for a brief excursion to Gettysburg Battle Field. How was I to
know that the journey was to begin my life-long passion for Civil War
history. We were driving through the ‘burg, when my Aunt Alice
quickly saw that they were having a town-wide sidewalk sale. She
indicated that she would rather spend the day shopping the sales than
walking around the hot battlefield. I believe she would have jumped
out of the car if my Uncle Dale hadn’t locked her door and drove
just a bit faster.
Memories are
funny things, but maybe they are there to help us deal with times of
sadness and grief. I am sad for Dale’s passing, but I laugh and
smile for the very special memories like the trip to Gettysburg that
will live in my memory of my uncle as long as I live. And, by the
way, I graduated with a degree of Agronomy with a specialty in Soils,
just the very area that Dr. Flowerday taught. Probably not an
accidental choice of fields.
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