Long-time Claremont resident and volunteer

Marilyn Jones Dale, a 67-year resident of Claremont who volunteered with many local and state organizations, died on August 21 at Mt. San Antonio Gardens. A proud member of Claremont’s self-described “pushy broads,” she played many roles in making her community and the organizations she cared about what they are today. She was 92.

Marilyn was born in Whittier, California on November 3, 1932. Her mother was a teacher and her father the principal at East Whittier School. Her father died when she was 4, so she never knew much about him, but in the short time he worked in Whittier, he was involved in multiple nonprofit organizations to promote opportunities for the people of his community. So, even though she didn’t know it, volunteerism was in her genes.

After graduating from Whittier High School, she attended Pomona College, entering as part of the class of 1954. There, she met a group of women who would become life-long friends. She also met William Dale, whom she would marry. A music major, she took summer school courses at Whittier College to become a teacher, at her mother’s suggestion.

She and Will were engaged in 1953, before he left for his stint in the Army during the Korean War. While he was away, she graduated from Pomona and moved back to Whittier to teach kindergarten at Longfellow School. The couple were married in the spring of 1955, soon after he returned from Korea. They then moved to Claremont so that he could finish his degree at Pomona College, and she taught at Lincoln School in Pomona for that year.

After his graduation, he began a career in finance and the young couple started a family. She  eventually became the mother of three sons, Jeff, Curt and Andy. “She once said that her greatest accomplishment was raising three boys who all graduated from college, and none of them landed in jail!” her family shared.

The young mother also began volunteering with the Pomona College Alumni Association Council, the Assistance League of Pomona Valley and the League of Women Voters. None of her children can remember a time in their early lives when she wasn’t volunteering.

In 1973, her husband took a job in Louisville, Kentucky, and the family moved to the Bluegrass State. There she studied community development at the University of Louisville and joined her first tennis club. Two years later, the family moved to Manchester, Vermont and, despite the harsh winters, it became one of her favorite places. The couple bought a vacation home in Wells, Vermont in the 1990s and she spent many summers there with friends and family.

In 1980, her husband’s career path saw the family return to Claremont, where she resumed volunteering. She was devoted to Pomona College and became president of the Alumni Association Council in 1990. Though her work with the college was not continuous, she was present at many events, and held a position on the Pomona College Alumni Board Past President Council up to the time of her death. She also reengaged with the League of Women Voters, both locally and statewide, monitoring the California Water Board and the California Coastal Commission and serving for a term as the league’s California state treasurer.

Her many other volunteer positions include president of the Foothill Philharmonic Committee (and more than 30 years as a member); deacon at Claremont United Church of Christ; and board member of Pilgrim Place, among others.

She also played a key role in the committee to elect Sandy Baldonado as mayor of Claremont. She took on many volunteer positions after moving to Mt. San Antonio Gardens, including two terms as president of its Council Club.

She loved to travel. When the family was young, she enjoyed planning their summer vacations, which usually consisted of driving around the Western United States in an overloaded station wagon. “She was famous for starting plans on next summer’s trip the day after getting back from this summer’s trip,” her family added. “One of her favorite destinations was Yosemite, and Marilyn discovered her love of walking there as the family hiked around the High Sierra Camps in the early 1970’s, something she did at least four times.”

As her boys got older, the scope of her trips increased: her walking trips took her to England and Spain, and she traveled to more exotic locations such as Zimbabwe, Morrocco, Brazil, China, Russia and Cuba, to name a few. “When she wanted to distract herself from her divorce from Will in 1996, she traveled to Florence, Italy to see the art and architecture she had studied,” her family said. “Marilyn also wanted her grandchildren to experience travel and took her two older grandchildren on trips to London and Hawaii. Even after she was not able to travel comfortably, she paid for the trip of a third grandchild to visit Iceland with his school.

“There are many other aspects of Marilyn that come to mind when we think of her: her sharp mind, her killer instincts playing bridge, her love of tennis, her self-assured ways about all things in the kitchen, her sense of style, and her love of family and friends. These things, and more, mix to give the sense that she had many golden eras in her lifetime.”

She is survived by her sons and their wives, Jeffrey (Cheryl Ramp) of Arlington, Virginia; Curtis (Samara McCartney) of Banstead, U.K.; and Andrew (Karen McMillen) of Claremont; and by grandchildren Lucy, Joseph, James and William.

“She will be missed by all,” her family said.

A memorial gathering will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, September 17 in the Bridge Room at Mt. San Antonio Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the League of Women Voters at lwvmtbaldyarea.clubexpress.com; California Botanic Garden at calbg.org/support/tribute-gifts; Foothill Philharmonic Committee via email to foothillphilcommittee@gmail.com; or to a charity of your choice.