Dale Stickrath Sr, 99, of Fernandina Beach, FL passed away on Sat. June 8th, 2024 in Hampton, VA after falling ill at his daughter, Theresa's, house.

He was born Oct 16, 1924 in Belle Valley, OH to his late parents, Charles and Cuba (Barnhouse) Stickrath. He had an older sister, the late Midge Mann. His father owned a funeral home and his mother was a teacher.

During World War II, Sergeant Stickrath was a Gunnery Instructor and Aerial Gunner serving both stateside and in the Southwest Pacific theater with the 307th Bombardment Group-The Long Rangers, 371st Bombardment Squadron. Dale thoroughly enjoyed attending many of his units annual reunions and telling people about his experiences on B-24 Liberators. He was a ball turret operator on a special mission to gain information on how to improve the teaching process. He was very proud of his service, riding in the Fernandina beach Veterans Day Parade and going to schools to talk with students.

Dale had many jobs & considered himself a jack of all trades. He worked in grocery stores, lumber yard, house painting and electrical, motel manger, service stations, post office, apartment manager, restaurants, truck driver, Walmart, Target, Sea World San Diego and Cracker Barrel -which he retired from in 2014. He was a people person and never met a stranger he couldn't talk to.

He loved to travel and visited all 50 states and multiple countries. In 1989 he and Almeda moved with their daughter Debbie and her family after her husband joined the Navy, often joking that they were the oldest Navy Brats. He was still living with them in Fernandina when he passed.

He and his wife, Almeda Dorman, were married 61 years when she passed in 2012. They had 3 children together, Dale (Kim) Stickrath Jr, the late Kathy (Richie) Lusk, and Debbie (Marshall) Drake. He had two previous marriages and a daughter from each, Judy (Phil) Kloster and Theresa (Late Gene) Thomas. He had 19 grandkids, 35 great grandchildren, and 12 great-great grandchildren as well as many nieces, nephews and extended family.

The Celebration of his life and a Military service at the Jacksonville Veterans Cemetery have yet to be determined You may visit his Facebook page later for an update or contact his daughter @ dadrake60@gmail.com.

If interested you can learn more about his WWII service and the 307th on their website www.307bg.org.

In lieu flowers, donations may be made to:
Georgia Sea Turtle Center https://www.jekyllisland.com/activities/georgia-sea-turtle-center/
Tunnel for Tower https://t2t.org/
307th Bombardment Group Association https://307bg.org/product/make-a-contribution/