Dale Brooke Gerdeman

Dale Brooke Gerdeman, longtime resident of Las Vegas, New Mexico, passed away peacefully on January 26, 2009 with his family by his side. He was 91 years old and had been living in Chandler, Arizona near his daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren since the death of his loving wife Glenda in 2003. He is survived by two daughters, Diane Peters (Jeff) and Ellen Gerdeman-Klein of Chandler, AZ; two grandchildren, Scott Silva (Inga) of Chandler AZ and Kara Ashcraft (Matt) of Gilbert, AZ; four great-grandchildren, Brooke and Cole Ashcraft of Gilbert, AZ and Sean and Liam Silva of Chandler, AZ; a sister, Donna Jean Hays of Las Vegas; and two brothers, William A. Gerdeman of Grand Junction, Colorado; James M. Gerdeman of Lubbock, Texas, and their families. Dale is preceded in death by Glenda (Davison), his wife of 55 years, and by his sisters Mary Josephine of Topeka, Kansas who passed away in 1993 and Elizabeth Ann of Las Vegas who died at age 3. The funeral service is scheduled at the First United Presbyterian Church in Las Vegas on Saturday, February 14 at 11:00 am. It will be followed by a fellowship meal at the church for family and friends. The interment will be held at 2:00 pm at the Masonic Cemetery in Las Vegas. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations in Dale's name be made to the First United Presbyterian Church of Las Vegas, 1000 Douglas Avenue, Las Vegas, NM 87701, fupc.nm@ gmail. com, or to Hospice of the Valley,1510 East Flower Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014. Tel. 602-530-6690, www.hospiceofthevalley.org. During his lifetime Dale was a banker, realtor, pilot, genealogist, published writer, and inventor holding three patents. He worked at the Bank of Las Vegas from 1946 to 1969, beginning as assistant cashier, then becoming vice president and president. He was a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church of Las Vegas, joining at age 13 and serving the Church faithfully for 74 years as a member, deacon, and on many committees. Born to Alvin H. Gerdeman and Fern Brooke Gerdeman on December 5, 1917 in Albuquerque, he moved with his parents to Las Vegas in 1918. He was the oldest of six children. Dale married Glenda Rae Davison on 24 October 1948 in the First Presbyterian Church of Pampa, Texas. The couple made their home in Las Vegas, where they raised their two daughters, Diane and Ellen. Dale graduated from Las Vegas High School, New Mexico Military Institute, and attended University of Illinois. In 1940 he graduated from New Mexico Normal University (now New Mexico Highlands) with a major in chemistry and minors in mathematics and education. He furthered his education at a graduate seminar in banking at Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration. Dale served in the United States Army from November 1942 until March 1946 and was a life member of the Disabled American Veterans. As a volunteer, Dale was a long-time member of Las Vegas Rotary Club, the Kit Carson Council Boy Scouts, the Las Vegas Chapter March of Dimes, and the New Mexico Heart Association. In 1958 Governor Edwin L. Mechem appointed him to the New Mexico State Board of Educational Finance. Dale also dedicated 20 years to the Greater Las Vegas Child Health Center, which provided needy grade-school students in Las Vegas with food, vitamins, and health care. From 1962 to 1981 he was treasurer and president of the Viles Foundation Board, which gives college grants to orphans from San Miguel and Mora Counties. After his retirement, Dale became interested in genealogy research and traced his family back many generations to about eleven hundred ancestors. His most beloved project was to study the history of Presbyterianism in the southwest. He wrote many biographies of missionaries, ministers, and educators starting from 1870, which he published as Presbyterian Missionaries in Rural Northern New Mexico. A companion book covering Presbyterians in Las Vegas between 1870 and 2002 is in the final stages of editing and will be available in summer 2009.

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