Dale W. Bartholomew's Obituary
Dale Wayne Bartholomew, 85, passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of March 30, 2026. Dale is survived by his loving wife, companion, soul mate, and best friend of 65 years, Margaret.
Dale was born in rural Iowa near Bonaparte on August 17, 1940. His family moved to Eatonville in 1952. Dale married his high school sweetheart, Margaret on April 29, 1961. Dale made many life-long friends in Eatonville and the stories they would tell.
After graduation, Dale worked a few odd jobs as a logger and a boilermaker but his passion was entrepreneurship. He owned a gas station and an oil truck that delivered home heating oil. He built the house in Puyallup where he and Margaret raised their two children. Dale and Margaret lived in that house for thirty-three years. He became a self-employed drywall and insulation contractor.
Eventually getting his general contracting license, he started flipping houses with his son in the early nineties, long before the home improvement channels made it cool. He then built a house for his son, his daughter, and eventually a new house for him and Margaret. It was during this time that Dale and Margaret would take a weekend every now and then to go the beach. They liked Ocean Shores and Westport but they had friends that owned the Local Tavern in Grayland. They were visiting one time and found their friends with their camper parked at the bar because there had been a fire. Their friends were navigating the insurance issues but were in desperate need of a contractor. Dale jumped at the idea. He moved their trailer to the RV park behind the Local Tavern and went to work. The Local Tavern was re-built over the next several months. It was during this time that Dale had many conversations with the owners of the RV, Motel, Mobile home park that they were staying at.
By the time the Local Tavern was finished, their semi-retirement dream had become a reality. Dale and Margaret had become owners of the motel and RV park. They stayed at the park for nearly ten years then moved back to Puyallup where he built their last house.
Dale loved the outdoors. He loved to fish, hunt, cut wood, and camp and camping was always in some sort of RV. He and Margaret had 11roughed it11 before the kids came along. After their daughter was born, camping was in travel trailers which eventually turned into motorhomes. They would just head up to the 11woods11 Along with fishing, there were many, many motorcycle trips just out exploring as a family. Most camping trips were large extended family and friend gatherings. Building large campfires, playing cards, and maybe having a little drink, always resulted in great family fun and many, many wonderful memories and stories.
Dale and Margaret also shared their love of traveling with their children. When Brenda and Rick were adults, many of their friends were jealous of how "fun" their parents were. Many of their friends asked if they could be "adopted" by Dale and Margaret so they could travel with them too. They were always traveling somewhere together. Enjoying the sights and each other's company whether in an RV or taking a plane somewhere around the country.
Dale owned two classic cars and enjoyed taking them to car shows, rod runs, the Eatonville 4th of July parades and out for a "Sunday drive" with Margaret.
Dale is survived by Margaret, daughter and son-in-law Brenda and Jerry Losch, son and daughter-in-law Rick and Jennie Bartholomew. He was a loving grandpa to Kylie Bartholomew and her husband Kyle Anderson, Amber and Dave Keener, and Curstyn and Justin Hale. He also had six great-grand children and one great-great-grand child. He is also survived by sister-in-laws Elaine Harrison and Linda Madden.
Dale was preceded in death by his parents, Oscar and Keo Bartholomew, his brother Glen and sister-in-law Betty Bartholomew, nephew Allen Bartholomew, brother-in-laws Robert Madden, David Madden, Don Madden, Don's wife Deanna and many, many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
We know he was welcomed by his Eatonville buddies and by all of the family that have gone before him. After the reunion, we are sure they are all gathering at the buffet and then around the table for some very wicked card games.
He will be greatly missed by those he has left behind.
A celebration of life will be held on Sunday June 7th, 2026 at the Puyallup Elks Lodge, 314 27th St NE, Puyallup, WA from 1:00-4:00pm. We invite you to join us in celebrating Dale's life and sharing stories in rememberance
What’s your fondest memory of Dale?
What’s a lesson you learned from Dale?
Share a story where Dale's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Dale you’ll never forget.
How did Dale make you smile?