Dale Allen Vassalli

Dale Allen Vassalli, 94 years old, passed away peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family on July 31, 2025. Graveside Service with Military Honors will take place at 11:00 am, Saturday, August 23, 2025, at Bourbon Cemetery, Bourbon, MO. Following the service, family and friends are invited for lunch at noon at the Eagles Hall in Sullivan, MO.

Dale was born February 13, 1931 in Maplewood, St. Louis County, MO.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Ambrose Pomp and Clara Alpha (Stroup) Vassalli; wife, Bette Ann (Mecomber) Vassalli; sisters, Nedra Eve (Vassalli) Freeman, Lorna Lee (Vassalli) Strauser; brother, Daniel Warren Vassalli.

Survived by his brother, Ronald Stanley Vassalli; children, Dale Allen Vassalli, Jr., Cynthia Ann (Tom) Poteete, Steven Gregg Vassalli, Kimberly Diane (Grant) Vassalli; grandchildren, Justin Alan (Krista) Poteete, Benjamin Reed (Claire) Poteete, Kelsey Marie Watson, Hannah Elizabeth Poteete, Ashley Nichole (Christian) Anderson, Allison Marie (Garret) Davis; seven great-grandchildren.

Dale attended Rockhill Grade School through eighth grade and attended many eighth grade class reunions over the years. He went on to Maplewood High School through tenth grade. The family moved to Sullivan, MO, where he graduated from Sullivan High School in 1949. This is also where Dale and Bette met during a high school dance.

Dale worked various jobs including the Missouri State Highway Department until enlisting in the United States Air Force in November 1951. He was sent to Lackland AFB in Belleville, IL, to attend electronic maintenance school for nine months. Before leaving to serve in Korea, he and his girlfriend, Bette Mecomber married on October 11, 1952. He served in Korea for one year, then was stationed back at March AFB in Riverside, CA for two years. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1955.

Dale and Bette moved back to Sullivan, MO, where Dale received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Missouri School of Mines in 1960. Dale had several employers as electrical engineer until 1969, when he began working for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Kansas City, MO and then moved to Wichita, KS where he retired in January 1998.

Dale and Bette had four children and six grandchildren. He loved spending time with them at home and taking them to various places in town and abroad. Dale loved gardening, watching baseball and football, working on cars, and fixing everything himself.

After retirement, Dale and Bette enjoyed traveling across the United States and to Europe. After learning his ancestors came to the United States from Switzerland, he located his third cousins and many more relatives living in Riva San Vitale, Ticino, Switzerland. He and Bette would travel back to visit them several times, even taking one of his children and grandchildren so they could know their history. They loved taking grandkids with them on their trips across the United States.

A memorial has been established with: Good Shepherd Hospice, 7829 E. Rockhill, Ste. 403, Wichita, KS 67206.

Services in care of Downing & Lahey East Mortuary (Wichita, KS) and Eaton Chapel Mortuary (Sullivan, MO).