Dale Garner Obituary

Dale Lynn Garner, 84, of Amarillo, passed away Thursday, July 24, 2025.

Memorial service will be at 4:30 PM, Monday, July 28, 2025, in the Ware Chapel at Polk Street Methodist Church, Amarillo, Texas. Private family burial will be at McLean Cemetery. Arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors.

Dale Lynn was born on April 7, 1941, to Nathan Dale and Bertie Garner in Turkey, TX. His grandfather, Dr. Joel Garner, delivered him and he was proud to tell everyone that his grandfather was the local country doctor. He was reared in Turkey and graduated from Turkey High School in 1959. He remained close with his high school classmates throughout his life. They liked to boast that they were the largest senior class Turkey had ever had with 29 students and that they won regionals in football and basketball, which was the furthest Class B schools could go at the time. He worked in a bakery as a teenager and his friends nicknamed him “Donut.” Although he lived his adult life in Amarillo, he always remained a small town Turkey boy at heart.

He met Margie Railsback in 1964 when she went home with her college roommate to Turkey one weekend. They met in June and married on December 19,1964 at Saint Paul Methodist Church in Amarillo. They cherished 60 years together.

Dale lived with his grandparents, Bert and Snow Castleberry, in Amarillo and attended trade school. He went two nights a week for five years to Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 196 all while working full-time as an apprentice until he became a licensed pipefitter. He worked for G&W Plumbing Company for 25 years, mainly on large commercial building projects. He then worked as a pipefitter at Pantex for 15 years before retiring when the last grandchild was born.

Dale and Marge were blessed with two daughters, Julie and Susan. He adored them. He cooked breakfast every morning and walked them down the street to the neighborhood church, Kingswood, every Sunday where he served as a greeter and Marge sang in the choir. He never let his girls go to bed with wet hair and would lovingly blow-dry and brush their hair every night before bedtime. Dale and Marge were active in their children’s lives and attended every game, concert, recital, and school event. Later they attended Polk Street Methodist Church and enjoyed their Aldersgate Sunday school class.

Dale was known to his daughters, grandchildren, and neighbors as “The Lawn Ranger.” He loved working in his yard and planting a small garden each summer. His flowers and yard were always among the best on the block. He worked hard for his family and never complained about the constant honey-do project requests. He believed in repairing things before buying new and thought duct tape and baling wire could fix almost everything.

Dale and Marge enjoyed spending time in Ruidoso during the summers. He never learned to swim and he didn’t like flying, but he willingly went on many travel adventures and cruises around the world with Marge in their later years. He preferred the country and local folks over big cities. His grandchildren called him GranDale. He and GranMarge loved being involved with their grandchildren and attended all of their activities. They were the “adopted” grandparents of many of their grandchildren’s friends.

Dale will be remembered as a humble, kind, loving, patient, and God-fearing man. He loved everyone and everyone loved him. Andrew, his oldest grandchild, reflected that GranDale had a way of making the ordinary seem sacred. His faith was steady and he believed if we treated each other like Jesus did, everything else would work itself out. And even when Alzheimer’s took his memory and his words, it never took his kindness. His gentleness stayed. His love never faded. Because that love wasn’t just what he gave- it’s who he was.

In addition to his parents, Dale was preceded in death by his brother, Jerry, and sister, Laurie.

He is survived by his wife, Marge; daughter, Julie Lynn Marshall; daughter Susan Dale Burks and husband, Brad; grandchildren Andrew Garner Marshall, Mason Lynn Marshall, Karalyn Marshall Mathis and husband, Nathan, Elizabeth Ruth Burks and fiancé, Brendan Daly, Samuel John Burks, and Benjamin Dale Burks, and great-granddaughter, Eleanor Kate Mathis.

The family requests memorials be made to the Aldersgate Scholarship Fund at Polk Street Methodist Church, Amarillo, Texas.