Dale Roland SKELTON

It is with sadness the family of Dale Roland Skelton announce his passing on March 5, 2024 at Rose Villa at the age of 82 years.

Dale was born in 1941 to Roland and Roberta (née Carnegie) Skelton and grew up in Harris, Saskatchewan, and on the family farm near the village of Marriott, in an era when boys were slotted into one of two categories: (a) hard workers, and (b) those not worth their salt.  Dale readily joined category “a” (his mother may have otherwise perished from embarrassment) and always stayed firmly within it.

The caption under Dale’s photo in the 1959 Rosetown Composite High School yearbook reads “Dale’s voice is manly and deep. He’s earned many friends, we’re sure he will keep”.  The editors were observant and accurate prognosticators.

Dale attended law school at the University of Saskatchewan, graduating in 1965, having the previous summer married Carrol, his high school sweetheart (who was gainfully employed as a teacher at the time).  He and Carrol returned to Rosetown in 1968, where Dale hung out a shingle and began competing against the venerable and established town lawyer, Morely Aseltine.  Dale went on to enjoy a successful 49-year law practice, and for eight of those years he held the prestigious position of bencher of the Law Society of Saskatchewan.  Remarkably, for many years Dale also maintained a full-time farming operation while maintaining a full legal practice.   Never one to shy from a challenge, Dale also cultivated many partnerships, schemes and business ventures.

Dale was very proud of his family, and of his beloved community of Rosetown.  He served many terms on town council, earned a lifetime membership with the BPO Elks Club, and was a proud founding member of the much beloved “Dusty Wheels” Car Club.  The club still thrives.  Any donations can be made in his honor to Dusty Wheels by e-transfer to nisley@sasktel.net (if required, password “DALE”).

Dale’s love for Rosetown intersected with his unmitigated contempt for Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Alan Blakeny in two significant events.   In 1980 Dale ran in the federal election, in the riding of Rosetown-Kindersley, as a candidate for the separatist Western Canada Concept Party.  For those with foggy memories: he put up an enthusiastic and dedicated fight, but did not win.  Undaunted, he later spearheaded a movement, which garnered national attention, to have Rosetown either become a sovereign nation or become an island of Alberta within the borders of Saskatchewan.   Wars were lost, but victories were enjoyed on significant fields of battle.

Dale spent many years enjoying the cabin he and Carrol built at Turtle Lake.  Always the welcoming host to neighbours, friends and family, Dale could often be found on summer evenings seated around a campfire, holding a well-worn yellow Tupperware coffee cup filled with wine of the cheapest available variety, discussing his favorite topics:  politics and old cars. 

Dale is survived by his wife Carrol, to whom he was married for nearly 60 years, his son Christopher (Lisa), daughters Christy and Cory Anne (Derick) Holmlund, and grandchildren Bobbi, Jackson, Ben, Ashley, Sylvie, Danny and Pippa. He is also survived by his siblings, Bette (Jack) Betemps, Noel (Carol) Skelton, Karen (Ted) Pache, and Penny (the late Cameron) Duncan.

As I write this, I receive texts and emails with kind thoughts and memories about him. Words and phrases included among them are “good man”, “proud father”, “great provider”, “mentor”, “creator”, and “doting grandfather”. To that I will add that he was a relentless and constant thinker, never easily accepting any established way of doing things. There were never enough hours in the day, and Dale often bit off twice as much as could reasonably be expected to be chewed, but he usually managed to get down three quarters of it.

A Celebration of Dale’s Life will be held at a later date.