Dale E. Braman

By Keith Braman in collaboration with Carol Braman and Leigh Diebold

As Dad would put it, he was always going somewhere, mostly to “Cognito,” that way he could tell people that he was “in Cognito.”

He was born November 23, 1947 at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, WA to George and Louise (Stark) Braman at a whopping 9 lb. 4 oz. George was a section foreman for Union Pacific Railroad and Louise was a homemaker already raising Dad’s two older brothers Gary and Harold (Hal). Eventually his sister, Virginia (Ginger) would come along in 1954.

Due to Grandpa George’s occupation, they moved all “over hell and ½ of Georgia.” Dad recalled that most of his childhood was living out in the countryside and farmlands outside very small towns. They eventually settled inside the city limits of Washtucna, WA. It was the first time he remembered living in an actual town. Just prior, the Union Pacific had provided George and his family housing near Tunnel 14 and the Palouse Falls. However, the housing provided was intended to meet the needs of a bachelor not a family. As Dad recalled, the house was located mere feet from the tracks and when the trains went by the windows and walls would shake and kick up so much dirt that Grandma Louise would spend most of her days dusting. Intolerable to raising four children in such a place as this, Louise put her foot down and informed George that she was moving into town, and he would be welcome to join them.

Dad graduated from Washtucna High School in 1966 lettering in football. As Dad put it, there wasn’t much choice but to play sports in High School as the school barely had enough kids to field eight-man football. He always enjoyed the game, especially playing on the defense. He said that he was raised right, and it was always better to give than receive (i.e. tackling vs. being tackled). He also played basketball and baseball. Dad graduated in a “large” class of eighteen at WHS.

Dad worked various jobs while in high school, including working his Dad’s railroad section. One of his most memorable jobs was changing irrigation pipes on a farm. We will have some Dale’s Tales to share about this job.

The fall after graduation, Dad moved to Cheney, WA to attend Eastern Washington State College (now Eastern Washington University). From what he told us, Dad had a great college experience. He continued playing football in his freshman year before putting away his cleats. He was a bass guitarist in a band (one fuzzy picture of Dad wearing a Cowboy hat is our only evidence) with his lifelong college friend, Floyd Smith. Dad graduated with his Bachelor of Art degree in Radio & Television in June of 1970. He loved reading National Lampoon and MAD Magazine which explains his humorous take of the world.

After graduating, Dad moved to Boise, ID. He got a job delivering Coca-Cola for a local distribution company and promptly earned the nickname “Lightning” (some sarcasm) for his ability to deliver the Coke products on his route in the longest amount of time. He spent lots of time making friends at various deliveries. It was in the spring of 1972 that he met his future wife, Carol, at a bar in Boise. But of course, the truth is that Mom was pawned off (by her roommate) to Dad to drive her home. He ended up taking her to his favorite breakfast place and talking with her until the early morning. As he put it (with Mom rolling her eyes and shaking her head), she could outdrink him and that was the only criteria needed to decide to marry her. He would quickly ask for her hand in marriage several times but she kept refusing. He also worked at Sears, which he considered his first real sales job.

Thankfully, she finally said yes, and they were married on September 15, 1973 in Genesee, ID. Before their wedding, Dad moved to Spokane, WA (and Mom followed). Dad continued his career in sales, first, selling cars before being hired at VJ Morris selling appliances and stereo equipment. Oh, and before I forget, he flirted with the idea of growing a beard and mustache before Mom nixed that plan and he settled for awesome bushy 70’s style sideburns. Mom and Dad continued their lives in Spokane and in 1977, he began doing outside sales (no longer retail sales!) for Cash Register Sales, Inc. Mom worked as a bookkeeper.

True to Mom’s carefully laid out plans, he became a father on October 5, 1978, with the birth of his daughter, Leigh. He also began in the martial art style of Shotokan Karate and continued excelling as a salesperson. He would eventually in November of 1983, earned his 2nd degree Black Belt. He enjoyed the work outs, the discipline, and the comradery of the dojo.

Not to be outdone by my sister, I was born on April 2, 1981 to much adoration and fanfare (probably). In the spring of 1982, Dad was given a promotion to open a 2nd branch for Cash Register Sales back in Boise and we moved there.

During our time in Boise, Mom and Dad bought their 2nd home, raised 2 small kids, and traveled to far off places such as Ukiah, OR for the Hermann family camping excursion known as BBB. Favorite local excursions meant going to old ghost towns. However, living in Boise would soon come to an end, when Dad’s company decided to close the Boise office in late 1984. Dad quickly found employment with a Japanese cash register company called Towa. This would require another move, first to St. Joseph, MO in March of 1985 then to Levittown, PA in August of that same year.

For the next 5 years, Dad worked his way up in Towa eventually becoming an executive vice president. He traveled for business including trips to London and to Tokyo. He also took Mom on a memorable kid-free vacation (sales related) to Jamaica. He was always around to keep us in line (thumps on the head), playing copious amounts of board and card games, putzing around in the garage, and, of course, watching football.There were family trips up and down the eastern seaboard from Massachusetts to Virginia. He made sure to stop and to read all the historical markers along the roadside. As Leigh and I recall, he especially loved being able to visit and to tour battlefields and forts of significance to the Revolutionary and Civil War eras. Such excursions were infamously documented by the pictures of Leigh and me sitting on an old Civil or Revolutionary war cannons.

The next big move was due to a downturn in the US economy. Towa made a decision to close their US operations. After the past years on the East Coast, Mom and Dad agreed they were ready to return to the Pacific Northwest to be close to family moving in July of 1990 to suburbs of Portland, OR.

Job prospects for Dad were tough, and Dad ended up working for Plaid Pantry and RadioShack while he searched for better opportunities. The job search would take over two years, but Dad remained optimistic and determined. In a November 1991 article about people impacted by the sluggish economy, Dad told the journalist who interviewed him that his optimism was based in “I’m a true believer that you get what you build.” The determination he described resulted in him landing a position in distribution sales by December of 1992 for Duckback Products selling wood cleaner and stains.

His original territory included the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, parts of Montana, Idaho and California, as well as the 4 Western and Prairie Provinces of Canada. He was originally told he would travel three weeks each month. Actually, his job required he travel every week for 10 months of the year.The off-season was November and December. His territory did shrink when other sales people were hired to take over in the areas that he had established for Duckback Products. Dad did this for over 20 years. In that time, Dad’s hard work, diligence, and passion for his craft made him a very successful salesperson. He loved visiting the stores and making countless friends in the industry.

He told me once that he probably traveled nearly 100,000 miles a year (mostly by car). However, he was home every weekend to raise us kids (again, thumps on the head), play hours of Cribbage and Foto-Electric Football with me and attend the various school and church events Leigh and I were involved with.

Leigh graduated from High School in 1997 and I graduated in 1999. After we moved out (me to the Navy; Leigh to Western Oregon University and then to Texas), Mom and Dad started to travel together more often (i.e. no more kids to pay for). They bought an A-line camper (Dad announced, “I’m done sleeping on the ground”) for numerous trips throughout Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. There were many trips with Floyd and Kathy Smith. An Alaskan cruise with family for their nearly 25 year wedding anniversary. Besides the Hermann BBB, there were Stark/Braman family gatherings, as well.

I was stationed on the USS Constellation, an aircraft carrier. In September of 2001, I invited Dad to join me on a “Tiger Cruise,” as the ship would be sailing from Hawaii to its homeport in San Diego, CA on the last leg of its Western Pacific Deployment. Always one for a good time, Dad jumped at the opportunity. So with a full complement of 5,300 Sailors and an additional 1,000 civilian, the ship steamed out of port on Sunday September 9th. The planned events scheduled that week were abruptly cancelled by the events of the 9/11. Dad suddenly had front row seats to witness the inner workings of the crew of an aircraft carrier on high alert. It was an unbelievable experience.

Dad proudly supported all of his kids’ endeavors. He would talk to anyone who would listen about what we were doing. Between pride in having a son serving in the Navy and a daughter becoming a teacher, he would always take time to help us. In the summer of 2004, Dad drove Leigh to Texas where she had secured her first teaching position. In true Dad fashion, he would insist on stopping to read historical markers and stopping for quirky points of interest along the way. He loved talking about things he knew about the landscape and interesting facts. His favorite part of the trip was an intentional detour to check out the town of Braman, OK. He insisted that it was a matter of principle to stop. He enjoyed teaching Leigh how to pump gas considering she had lived in state where you couldn’t do that.

He gained a wonderful daughter-in-law when I married Kristen Gallup in 2006 and an amazing son-in-law, Brad Diebold, in 2007. With his kids married and beginning their lives, he was so ecstatic when the grandchildren arrived. His joy surrounded watching Leigh and I learn how to be parents. He loved being Grandpa/Papa to his 5 grandchildren Kayden (2008), Sarah (2009), Koen (2010), Erin (2011) and Elizabeth (2016). His love of board games was shared with his grandchildren. Notoriously, the games Sorry and Uno (a favorite of mine and Leigh to play with Dad) became a popular way to spend time with the grandchildren.

In January of 2013, Dad retired from Duckback. Retirement from life on the road, Dad was able to take time to do things that interested him, including archiving/digitizing family photos, and reading books. In September of 2013, Dad visited my family in Southern California so we could attend the San Diego Chargers Monday night game playing the Houston Texans. He was excited to watch a Braman cousin play for the Texans. Over the years, he zipped line with Mom several times. They did several Segway tours. Snowshoeing was a failure (he would try something new, once). He had a three mile hiking limit (if you had a backpack, it was hiking).

Retirement meant that Dad could help his kids when they needed extra support. He would fly across country in a heartbeat to be childcare provider, medical recovery support team, and moving assistance. Dad loved that he could be available to help. His adventures included helping a granddaughter recovery from having her tonsils and adenoids removed in Texas. Then, being available to care for Sarah and Erin while Brad started his new assignment at Fort Leavenworth, KS; Leigh had to keep returning to Texas to finish grad school. He flew to Maryland in 2016 to care for Sarah and Erin when Leigh’s Spring Break did not line up. Saving money was the reason Dad gave, but we knew he loved his time with the grandkids.

Dad was excited to spend time with Mom when she retired in 2016. They spent the next 5½ years traveling around western and southwestern United States. They both agreed on their desire to explore the United States instead of traveling abroad. Mom checked off many National Parks and Dad checked off as many historical markers, battlefields, and museums that Mom could tolerate. They always included time visiting their grandchildren either in California or with Leigh’s family wherever the Army had them stationed.

In mid-2017, Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Though this news was hard on him and the rest of us, his can-do attitude did not slow him down. He continued to enjoy reading and going on any new adventure Mom could think of. He wrote down some of his most memorable tales that we will share. In May of 2018, Dad and I met up in Spokane to take a road trip around Dad’s old stomping grounds in Eastern Washington. As I drove Dad around, he told me about notable events of his life with visits to Hay, Starbuck, and Washtucna. I learned so much about Dad’s Eastern Washington life.

The Army stationed Leigh’s family in Southern Arizona in 2018. Mom and Dad quickly took advantage of becoming “snowbirds” spending weeks in the winter with Leigh’s family and trips over to see me and my family in California. He grew that beard he always wanted. The beard growing started with a backcountry stay in Canada with no ability for shaving. So many grandchildren and others loved it!

The “snowbird” life led to them being locked down with Leigh and her family in March of 2020 the start of the COVID Pandemic. Mom and Dad became the Distance Learning Support Team for the grandkids as Leigh and Brad learned how to do their jobs from home. They were the PE Department, School Cafeteria, and home daycare for the youngest grandchild. A 3-week visit became a 7-week tour of duty and they were able to head back to Oregon after Mother’s Day. A worldwide virus did not stop Mom and Dad for too long and they were off once again gallivanting across the country checking off any location still left on their bucket list. Masked up and with a fresh stock of toilet paper, Dad was able to visit the Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, the National World War 2 Museum, and many others stops along the Mississippi River. In his ten years of retirement, Mom and Dad were able to add more states to their list of places visit bringing the total to 48.

By 2022, Dad’s condition required more help and attention and the long travels had come to an end. Mom worked hard to care for Dad with the support of wonderful resources in the Portland area. With the Diebolds getting ready to retire from the military life in 2023, it was decided moving Mom and Dad to Texas would allow Mom more support to care for Dad. In July of 2023, Mom and Dad drove from Oregon to Klein, Texas.The grandchildren were excited to have Mom and Dad living with them.They enjoyed spending time with Mimi and Papa. Dad enjoyed watching the activity of the grandkids around him, Brad’s cooking, and spending time with the family.

On September 15, 2023, Mom and Dad celebrated 50 years of Marriage.Though Dad rarely spoke at this point, Mom got a kick out of reminding him of this important event every so often that day. Dad’s big bushy eyebrows would rise with excitement and a great big smile would spread across his face at the mention of his wedding anniversary.

However, Dad’s decline would accelerate quickly from that moment on and he would pass away peacefully on October 12, 2023 surrounded by his family.

Services are as follows Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 11:00 a.m.,

Graveside service at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery,Genesee, Idaho

Immediately following the service: We will be gathering to share our favorite memories and stories, to laugh, to eat and to remember Dale.

St. Mary's Catholic Church Parish Hall at 154 North Jackson Street in Genesee, Idaho.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.neptunesociety.com/location/houston-cremation for the Braman family.