All told I guess I only laid eyes Dale about twenty times in my life but thanks to the decades’ worth of tales from Mike, Susan, Hansen, and Callie, I felt like I knew him well. Whether it was a glowing report from Hansen and Callie on the fun and/or trouble Dale had helped them get into at the lakehouse or a description from Mike and Susan on some long-ago legendary prank that Dale had pulled, all the stories I heard revolved around the elusive (at least to me) Dale, this mild-mannered joker with a heart of gold who would make his way down from Utah to thrill his Texas relatives a few times a year. I’m fortunate to have a number of great uncles but after hearing these stories I usually found myself wishing for one more. Though I never successfully appropriated Dale as an uncle, I was fortunate to spend enough time with him to enjoy his kindness and generosity of spirit. Whenever we saw each other we picked up right where we left off and his interest in and knowledge of the life of my brothers and I was gratifying. When Hansen and I were maybe 11/12 years old we decided that we would get Dale, the only real filmmaker we’d ever met, to help us make a superhero movie during his next trip to Texas. I’m sure this was the last thing he was interested in doing but when Hansen presented the idea to him, he was game—we were told to come up with a screenplay and we’d film it when he was in Belton. Of course the project never materialized (I think we got about two lines into the screenplay) though I don’t really regret having dropped that particular ball. Because whatever we did instead of making that movie while Dale was in Belton was probably even more fun. It probably involved a game, and lots of laughing. Years later I was working on a prank for Callie and John’s wedding and I invited a number of friends and family to take moon shots that would be presented to the bride and groom. Dale, of course, was in. His reply to my email: “Will, I’m in. You can count on my hairy butt.” Dale’s passing has left me stunned and saddened but there is some small consolation in the fact that so many of us who were fortunate enough to cross paths with him got to enjoy his abundant gift for facilitating laughter and great times. Anyone who was looking for some fun always knew that they could count on his hairy butt.