Dick Dale obit

Dick Dale, singer with Lawrence Welk, dies

 He was not on the list.

Dick Dale, a singer best known for his appearances on the Lawrence Welk television program, died Friday in Algona, the Mason City Globe-Gazette has reported. Dale was 88.

Dale sang and played the sax in many Midwest clubs over the years, including the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.

But he was best known for his work with the Lawrence Welk orchestra and TV program. He played "champagne music" and sang with the Welk orchestra from 1951 until the show ended in 1982.

Dale was a 1943 graduate of Algona High School who lived in Los Angeles for many years where the Welk program was taped.

A native of Algona, Iowa, he served in the United States Navy during World War II after graduation from Algona High School. His entertainment career began when he worked for several bands such as Harold Loeffelmacher and his Six Fat Dutchmen polka band. He was hired by Lawrence Welk in 1951.

During his tenure on The Lawrence Welk Show, in addition to playing the saxophone, Dale sang not just solos but also in duets, performed in comedy sketches, dances, and also played Santa Claus for many years on the Christmas shows. Even after the show ended when its host went into retirement in 1982, he continued to perform with his fellow Welk alumni. From 1990 to 1996, he co-owned and operated the Rainbow Music Theater in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, with fellow Welk star Ava Barber.

He famously sang Brewer & Shipley's "One Toke Over the Line" as a duet with Gail Ferrell.

He married his wife, Marguerite, in 1949, and they had four children. They lived in Los Angeles during the Lawrence Welk years. After making their home in Sparks, Nevada, for several years, the Dales moved back to his hometown of Algona, Iowa, in 2006. He died there on December 26, 2014.

He and his wife, Marguerite, moved back to Algona in 2006.