Donald Dale Coplen

Dale Coplen

Donald Dale Coplen, age 83, died at 9:34 a.m. Monday, September 19, 2016 at the Parkview Wabash Hospital in Wabash, Indiana.

He was born on October 16, 1932 in Miami County, Indiana to Lee Von and Cora L. (Zimmerman) Coplen.  He grew up on a dairy farm and tried his hand at it for a little while after serving in the United States Army from 1953-1955 during the Korean Conflict stationed at Fort Sill.  He graduated from Gilead High School in 1950 with the school mascot symbol  “Wildcats”.

Dale married Feryl Ann Fouts on August 15, 1954 and she passed away December 8, 1996.

He then married Beverly Jo (Lance) Simmons on February 15, 1998.  He lived most of his life in the Gilead / Akron area before moving to North Manchester five years ago.

After farming, Dale ran a Christmas tree farm for a few years and then was employed by Sonoco Products Company in Akron where he was a shipping supervisor. He retired from there after thirty some years of service.  As a retirement gift, Sonoco gave him a lifetime pass to all sporting events at Tippecanoe Valley High School, which he enjoyed so much.  

After retiring, he worked part time for Shepherd GM Center in Rochester delivering and picking up vehicles for about ten years.

Dale and his first wife had four children, two boys and two girls.  Dale was a coach for little league while his boys participated.  Dale had a special place in his heart for Dachshunds.  His last dog was a Dachshund named Pete.  They would go for walks in the morning and was his special pal.

Dale was an avid Cubs fan and enjoyed fishing and going on trips to Canada with his friends.  While his son was in Scotland, Dale went to visit him and thoroughly enjoyed those trips.  He also was a past member of the Akron Lions Club.  Dale was a member of the Olive Branch Church of God where he was a greeter.  He loved the church and was involved in whatever he could do.  He loved to garden and plant flowers.  His favorite flowers were petunias and seemed to have a green thumb.  He also liked to feed the birds.

Some of his evening activities included watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy on TV.  He and Beverly played Yatzee with hand held games being very competitive.  He also enjoyed playing Solitaire on his computer.

Dale was recently chosen by the Honor Flight and was planning to attend the memorials in Washington DC with his son Mike, on September 22^nd.  Unfortunately they were not able to go due to his untimely death.

Surviving Dale is his wife: Beverly Coplen, (2) sons: Donald Dale Coplen, Jr. of Huntsville, Alabama and Michael Ray (spouse Katherine) Coplen of North Manchester; (2) daughters: Karen Eileen (spouse Wayne) Conway of Fall River, Massachusetts and Karna Elaine Lyons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; (2) brothers: Robert (spouse Muriel) Coplen of Fort Wayne and Ralph (spouse Barbara) Coplen of Fort Wayne; (1) sister: Velma Ruth Chandler of Indianapolis (3) stepsons: Allen Simmons of Panama City Beach, Florida, Timothy (spouse Michelle) of Rochester, Minnesota and  Lance (spouse Rhonda) Simmons of West Palm Beach, Florida;(2) stepdaughters: Diane (spouse Dee) Boyd of Dallas, Texas and Rebecca (spouse Joe) Wood of Westville, Florida; (5) grandchildren, (6) step grandchildren, (2) great-grandchildren.

Preceding Dale in death were his parents, (3) brothers: Wayne Coplen, Dean Coplen and Charles Coplen; (1) sister: June Brown.

Visitation will be on Friday, September 23, 2016 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Earl-Love Funeral Home, 811 East Rochester Street, Akron, Indiana.

Funeral services will be on Saturday, September 24, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at the funeral home.

Officiating the service is Senior Pastor Jeff Sumner, and Pastor Kyle Schnitz of Olive Branch Church of God.  The United States Army will render Military Honors at the service and the American Legion Post #286 from North Manchester will perform Military Rites. Burial will be in the Athens Mount Hope (Hoover) Cemetery.

Memorials can be made to Olive Branch Church of God.

Online condolences may be sent through earllovefuneralhome.com

The staff of Earl-Love Funerl Home considers it a privilege and an honor to care for the family and friends of Dale Coplen.

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