Goodbye Uncle Dale

Also while I was away, actually the very first day I was on the road we got the call that Uncle Dale had passed away and that the Memorial would be that Saturday. Unfortunately, we were not able to make it.

Dale was always quite the character... it was sad to see him go, but selfishly it meant we had one more angel detective up their helping to bring Jim the justice he deserved. This was the obituary that ran in the Bakersfield Californian newspaper:

Warren Dale Parnell ("W.D.", "Dale" or "Pops") 1938 - 2009 Warren Dale Parnell, 71, died on August 10, 2009 after a short illness. Dale was born on January 1, 1938 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was one of eight children born to Ross and Bertie Parnell. The Parnell family moved from Oklahoma to Shafter, California in 1955. Dale, who met his first wife Shirley Coodey while attending Shafter High School, graduated from there in 1956. He and Shirley were married in 1957 and had four children. Dale worked as a truck driver before becoming a milkman for Wayne's Dairy in McFarland, CA. In 1967, he proudly became a Police Officer working for the Bakersfield Police Department (BPD). During his twenty-plus years with the BPD, Dale was a patrolman, a motorcycle officer, and a detective in the narcotics, vice and forgery units who worked diligently to protect the citizens of Bakersfield and to put criminals behind bars. He and Shirley ended their marriage in 1988. In 2000, Dale married Linda Sceales, who was faithfully at her husband's side when he passed away. He enjoyed fishing, camping, horse racing, reading and trips to Laughlin, Nevada. Dale is survived by his wife, Linda; daughter, Kathy Eribarne; son, Brian and his wife Kathrine; son, Joel and his wife Shawna; son, Jon and his wife Dee Dee; and stepdaughter, Reagan Martin. He is further survived by his brother, Danny Parnell; his sister, Sherry Carothers and her husband Dan; sisters-in-law, Mikki Parnell and Juanita Parnell; brother-in-law, S.F. Heath; and by numerous grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by brothers, Dean, R.G. and Jimmy, and by sisters, Maxine Heath, and Wilma Copeland. An outdoor memorial gathering will be held on Saturday, August 15, 2009, at 3:00 p.m., at the Bakersfield Police Department's Pistol Range located at 3419 Truxtun Avenue in Bakersfield.