Dale Bernard Burpee

Dale Bernard Burpee of Grayling, MI passed away unexpectedly on January 16, 2015. Dale was born and raised in Wayland MI. He was married to the love of his life, the late Jackie Burpee. He was the father of Sheila (Mike) Jaroniewski , Georgia Brewer(Mike Hause), Kimberly (Cory) Kivel, Charlie (Hillary Holcomb) Burpee and Kbeth (Mike Lovely)Burpee. He was the grandfather of 20 grandchildren. Dale had an enormous love for the outdoors and spent as much time as possible hunting and fishing. He enjoyed motorcycles almost as much as the outdoors and was fortunate enough to see the majority of our country on his motorcycle. He loved to see our amazing National Parks with his favorite being the Redwoods in California. Dale was retired from the State of Michigan, spending 25 years as a youth specialist at Shawono Center. He had a genuine care for youth and a unique way of relating with students. Prior to his employment at Shawono, Dale spent several years working at Hanson Hills where he was responsible for maintaining equipment. He was gifted mechanically and took great pride in his ability to fix and build almost anything. While at Hanson Hills, he built "Ole Thunder", a working canon that was used in the past to announce the start of the canoe marathon. Dale also spent time competing as a professional archer. He was proud of his many perfect scores and his arrows that were destroyed in competition by shooting one arrow inside another. He was then asked, and accepted, the position as archery coach for Kirtland Community College. During the last chapter of his life, Dale focused on building lasting relationships with his family and friends. He began many yearly traditions in which his grandchildren could participate including an annual hunting trip to South Dakota, an annual fishing trip to Canada and for the last 10 years, Dale invited and paid for all his family and friends to join him for dinner at a restaurant of his choice to celebrate the holidays. He could be found most mornings hanging out with friends at Goodale's Bakery and being sure that his oldest friend, George Matyn (103 years young) was not misbehaving. Dale was preceded in death by his parents Harold Burpee and Mary Raab Burpee , his wife Jackie and his daughter Autumn and son Fred Bortmon. He is survived by his brother Ronald Burpee and sisters, Susan Carrigan and Pattie Marvin. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be given to the Sportsman Club in Grayling with donations being used to encourage young adults to learn and enjoy hunting. A celebration of his life is being planned and details will be finalized soon. Please visit the Sorenson Lockwood website for details and to share your favorite memory, too. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Dale Bernard Burpee, please visit our flower store.