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Dale Lee Bennett was born Dec. 9, 1945, in Greybull, Wyoming, to Ellen Lorraine Nation and Kenneth Camphouse and later adopted by Ruel Francis Bennett.
Dale was an ambitious youth, he farmed himself out at the age of 16 to work the ranches, branding cattle, riding herd, stacking hay and irrigating alfalfa. All this while attending Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming.
Dale broke his leg while skiing at Park City which brought him to Salt Lake to recuperate with his parents. While still in a cast he applied to the post office and luckily when they called him to work he was walking. It was at the post office where he met his wife Linda. On the night shift, they would often meet on the freight elevator and jam the elevator between floors and talk. Their first date was Feb. 17 and a short two weeks later, Dale proposed and was headed off to basic in Ft. Bliss, Texas. Two days after he got home, they were married in Murray, Utah on May 22, 1967 at the home of her parents and later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on May 22, 1981. After a quick 10-day honeymoon Dale was off to Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, for training in radio repair. After six months of training he was sent to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, assigned to the TV station. Then a few months in Berlin, Germany, assigned to the hospital, he volunteered for Vietnam. Although he never received advanced infantry training, that was where he ended up — in the infantry. Funny thing, after all the training in New Jersey he never repaired a radio again.
Dale excelled in Vietnam. Three days after he arrived he was sent into the jungle where he spent the next 11 months sleeping on the jungle floor, running night patrols and searching villages for Viet Cong. He earned a special accommodation; the Award of Merit because of his actions in the field. By this time he had two boys, Shane and Travis, and took them on camping trips and various outings, made sure they were exposed to pets, gardening, exploring and having fun. As they got older Dale turned his garage over to them for repairing cars, trucks and motorcycles, but because of all the grease and oil, he stopped doing woodwork until they had grown and moved out.
After coming home from Vietnam, Dale returned to the post office as a letter carrier and finished out his 34-year career working at the Murray office. His daughter Liberty was now the light of his life and he was wrapped around her little finger. She could do no wrong; as a 2-year old, she could walk up, grab his Coke bottle, take a drink and he’d never blink an eye. The boys could never do that; his drink was off limits to them.
Dale loved his animals; he raised chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, raccoons, chipmunks, even had a mink for a while. After moving to Idaho in 2016, he kept his bird feeder full.
The best adventure Dale introduced his small family to was the mountain man way of life and primitive living. An 18-foot tipi, muzzle loaders and campfires brought him a great deal of happiness for 20 years. Camping alongside friends, seeing the stars at night and living a simple life, even if it was only a week or two a year, brought him a lot of satisfaction and comfort. A bad back brought that to an end, he sold his tipi and would now enjoy the time share and condo trips to the Oregon Coast.
Dale was preceded in death by his father Kenneth Camphouse, his parents Ellen and Ruel, in-laws Hazen and Maurine Madsen, Stacy Madsen, Valerie and Jennifer West.
He is survived by his wife Linda of 56 years, children Shane (Sharon), Travis (Nicole), and Liberty, sister Mary Ellen Fowler; grandchildren, Shantel (Nick) Bradhaw, Jordan (Tori) Bennett, Shawn (Alisha) Bennett, Arika, Trissa, Taegan, Talon Bennett and Kenneth Trausch.
It’s with great sadness we say goodbye and want you to know how much you were loved. You couldn’t know/remember that the final six months you were here with us, but you were loved more than you know. Enjoy the journey, because now you are a guardian angel and we look to you to provide the way for us someday.
And I miss you.
A celebration of life was held on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, at 7115 South 3200 West, West Jordan, Utah. A graveside service was held at Murray City Cemetery. Online condolences may be shared at jenkins-soffe.com.
