Dale Eugene Lamps' Obituary
Dale Eugene Lamps, age 81, died on August 1 in Marietta, GA. He grew up a farm boy in LaSalle, IL who developed a love of piano, sailing, and gardening. Dale attended elementary school at St. Joseph’s in Peru, and graduated from LaSalle-Peru High School. He left the farm to study mathematics at the University of Notre Dame, where he learned to sail and loved being part of the Notre Dame band. He earned a Bachelor of Science in 1964, more importantly he met Dorothy (Dottie) Vara. He followed her to the University of Pittsburgh, nominally to study economics but really to win a wife.
He married Dottie in 1965 and they moved to Hartford, CT where Dale worked for Aetna Insurance by day but woke up at 4 am to study for his actuarial exams. Dale became a full Fellow in the Society of Actuaries while working for Sentry Life Insurance in Stevens Point, WI. The family then moved to Grand Rapids, MI, where Dale was initially the only licensed actuary. They lived happily in Grand Rapids and raised 4 children.
He retired from the corporate world in 2001 and began teaching as an adjunct professor of statistics at Grand Valley State University. He loved math and enjoyed teaching it to college students for 13 years. Among Dale’s many professional accomplishments he took the most pride in his more than 20 years serving on the Michigan Catholic Conference Pension Board.
Dale and Dottie moved to Marietta Georgia in 2017. While he enjoyed being close to family, he missed sailing and the beautiful beaches of Lake Michigan.
Dale is survived by Dottie; his four children: Mark and Anne (Rupert), Christopher and Christine (Glasser), Greg and Johanna (Helo), and Marina (Lamps) and Alvaro Alvarez; his ten grandchildren: Joseph, Maria, Christopher, Noah, Emma, Nicolas, Matthias, Cecilia, Raphael, and Lucia; his brothers Don and Gary; his sister Cheryl Jenkins; and many nephews, nieces, and cousins; and extended family too numerous to name. We assume he is playing Euchre somewhere with his parents, Forrest and Pauline (Stremlau) Lamps, who preceded him in death.
The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital (maryfreebed.com/foundation) in Dale’s name.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame, on August 12 at 9:30 AM.
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