Dale Orton Hugus
by: friends and family
Posted beginning 2/9/2001
On the anniversary of the day of his birth
In Memoriam
by: friends and family
Posted beginning 2/9/2001
On the anniversary of the day of his birth
In Memoriam
Carol Snyder Ready:
Hi Sandy,
Emily said you wanted us to let you know the most memorable thing about Dale. I can think of so may things about him, but I am having trouble deciding between two. They are:
Dale teaching me my 8 times table - I remember that one the best of all - or when he taught me how to kiss. They both came to mind.
Hope this is what you wanted. Will send you something else if this is not what you had in mind.
All for now.
Love you,
Carol
--Talk about being a master at understatement!
Oh, I LOVE it! This is one story I have NOT heard before! Just in time for Valentine's Day... And pray tell, what was MOM doing while he taught YOU to kiss? The man was generous to a fault! I have emailed her twice now, requesting her thoughts/feelings at that time, but she is getting "trunked" messages, (or dodging the issue, for which I would not blame her one bit!)
What method did he use to teach you the times tables? (I think we can all figure out how he did the other! LOL)
I would love to be party to what LED him to decide to teach you to kiss. However did THAT come up? Oh, Carol, you can't just TEASE us with the whiff of a neat story, then SIT ON IT! Spill it, lady, spill it!--San
The rebuttal:
Hi,
-- I really can't tell you how Dale taught me the 8 times tables, but, whatever he did helped me to really learn it. He had a way about him that made you listen to what he said.
As for the kiss--
We were in the apartment, on W. Thomas, by the hall and dining room. He told me to make my mouth soft and open it slightly. The most important thing was to relax and enjoy it. I tried, but I don't relax too well. I was only 14 or 15.I also remember him taking me to "River View Amusement Park" to ride the many rides. He took me up on the parachute and talked to me the whole time we were going up, pointing out the skyline, etc. Then when we got to the top and the parachute let go and fell for 50 feet, he laughed at my expression. It was a lot of fun. So was the log slide.
Another time, he took me up in the plane and let me fly it for quite a while. I enjoyed this, but figured I would never be able to land the thing.
Dale was a person who seemed to really enjoy life to the fullest in everything he did.
Hope this is a little better than the other one.
Love you,
Carol
Lynda Benson Coccia:
I have two favorite memories of Uncle Dale.
He was visiting us one year around Valentine's Day when I was in high school.
Mom always did the special Valentine Dinner with the heart-shaped meat loaf, heart-shaped jello, potato boats with heart-shaped sails with special verses written on them for each of us, etc.
This particular year, a girlfriend of mine was invited to dinner, and he surprised each of us with a gift -- horse pins, knowing how much I loved horses. She and I were both touched that he even thought of us. I still have mine to go with the memories of his wonderful laugh.
I think I was in late elementary school when he was visiting another time when Mom was in the hospital. He agreed to take me to the store to buy Mom a gift on the way to visit her. For some reason, it was just the two of us.
Of course, I had no money, but he agreed to stop and purchase her something. I immediately found an animal figurine I liked and showed it to him. He very gently said something to the effect that we often purchase gifts for others thinking it is for them but really it is for ourselves, and steered me towards a porcelain flower which we (he) did buy.
I was angry that he hadn't agreed with my idea for a gift, but didn't say anything. (I'm sure my body language was speaking loudly.) When we presented it to Mom at the hospital, she seemed very pleased. I smiled at him, knowing he was right. He smiled back.
On the way out, we paused to look at the modern art exhibit gracing the hospital hallways. Lacking an appreciation for the finer points of modern art, we had begun moving down the hall again when we came across a fire extinguisher stuck in the wall behind its glass door. Uncle Dale christened it "Fireflies".
He went back to our place, typed up a placard with "Fireflies" and the other necessary information to match the hospital art work's name cards, and taped it to the fire extinguisher's door the next time we visited Mom. I still laugh every time I think of it.
What made you decide to make this memory book? It will be wonderful to have all of them of him. Are you sharing??? (--Of course! That is the whole point!--San)
|
In England, with his "substitute airplane" |
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Phyllis Snyder Benson:
There are many, for he was part of our life for years and was loved by all.
Two things stand out from the past: His love of photography. And his helpfulness.
I recall, fondly, standing on the roof of Mother and Dad's house when I was a teenager, so Dale could get the contrast of my green dress against the green foliage of the trees and the blue sky.
Once I asked him a question about the telephone for some school work. He took the phone apart to "show" me. I don't remember the question, or the answer, but I do remember the pieces of the phone on the table. (He did reassemble it).
Chanie Laree Wood Richey One of my favorite memories of Gramps was one evening probably shortly before he died. It was warmer outside, and I had been over at your house with you, Em. Gramps pulled up in the driveway, and we thought it would be funny if I hid in the coat closet and jumped out and said "boo" when he went to hang up his jacket or hat.
When he opened the door and I jumped out, he was so scared that his short, short hair all stood on end. At five or six years old, I thought that was hilarious. I remember us all laughing.
My favorite picture of Gramps and me was taken in your living room. I was sitting on his lap wearing a tiger or lion bib, eating chips and dip while watching Star Trek.
--Oh, may I post a copy? It sounds adorable! You were a real cute kid! --San
Steve a.k.a. Stephen Harold Hugus
In the summer of 1974 Uncle Dale and Aunt Emily visited our family in Wyoming. We were building a cabin near Dubois and they were on a BMW vacation. I had a job as a rodman for a surveying crew and relied on my 175 Kawasaki motorcycle for transportation. One evening while riding home my bike died deader than Elvis. I pushed it off the road and walked home.
Uncle Dale offered to give me a ride to town for the parts I needed - a piston, rings and a gasket set. On Saturday morning, we struck out on the 100 mile trip to Lander, the closest town with a Kawasaki dealership. Unfortunately, they didn't have the parts, so we headed for Riverton, another 25 miles. They too suffered from an inventory shortage, so we continued on to Thermopolis, another 54 miles. I got the parts, and we headed home.
I remember those two trips through the Wind River Canyon south of Thermopolis, the tunnels and sharp curves. I remember how the BMW leaned over on its side as Uncle Dale negotiated the curves much faster than a car could. I suppose he was thinking about how this little trip had become a big trip and how many hours of daylight remained.
I also remember the rabbits. Jack Rabbit population varies depending on the severity of the previous winter and their food supply. One can make a relative determination of their population by the number of dead ones on a highway. There were a lot of dead ones in 1974.
As we cruised back home, my brain went into neutral, and I got a wild hair to kick a wild hare off of the road. I didn't budge! Today I have evidence that my foot didn't come off, but for a moment I was pretty sure it was gone!
We got home, and I repaired my old motorcycle so it could take me to work on Monday. It's a good thing; I sure wasn't able to walk that far!
Ralph Everett Hugus:
Whatever Dale did, he always did to the fullest with great intensity.
I remember on one visit to the farm, he taught us to play the game ³Stick-a-lay-low², which is basically ³Hide and Seek² played in the dark with clubs... All the cousins really looked forward to that one when the Minnesota clan came to visit!
When we went up to Rochester for a visit, it really impressed me that he had one Rambler sitting in the driveway to drive, and two more in the back yard, for parts, and plans to build an airplane in the basement.
Muriel Snyder Agregaard:
Dale sticks out in my mind as being one of the finest men I have ever known! I'm sure he had faults, but I never saw them.
When I was first learning how to drive, he took me into the garage, sat me down behind the wheel of the car, and explained and showed me how to shift the gears. Other than that, I never had a driving lesson.
I also remember the fire I had in the black truck. I was delivering laundry for daddy when the inside of the truck under the dashboard caught fire. When I called, Dale was the one that came to my aid. I was only about seventeen at the time, and scared to death!
Dale was VERY special, and we were all lucky to have had him in our lives!
Love, Moo
Jo Mary (Mom's best friend--San):
Dale was not a man that one would forget. My first meeting with Dale, of course, he was with Em. His smile was so easy, so genuine, so absolutely Dale. I remember him as the epitome of kindness. He even let a helter-skelter person (me) into his circle of friendship--no questions asked.
I never heard Dale raise his voice above his normal tone, though I'm sure often he wondered what the Ocean Springs folks were all about.
A camera seemed permanently attached to his hand -- I still have slides -- great treasures.
The last time I saw Dale, he and Emily and another Snyder girl (sorry, kiddo, I don't remember which) and her husband flew to Bogalusa to visit with us for a few hours. It must have been about this time of the year, because he photographed several trays of camellias--they are blooming profusely as I write
Dale was a friend-- easy to love, and never to be forgotten.
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