- Date Of Birth: August 20, 1920
- Date Of Death: March 30, 2010
- State: Montana
Harold “Bud” Dalen, 89, passed away on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at the Immanuel Lutheran Home in Kalispell, Montana. He is survived by his wife, Ethelyn and one son, Dr. Gary Dalen. Harold “Bud” Dalen passed away on March 30, 2010 at the Immanuel Lutheran Home in Kalispell, Montana. He was born on August 20, 1920 in Watford City, North Dakota to Arne O. and Berthine Marie (Anderson) Dalen.
He moved to Whitefish at age 1 year and attended school in Whitefish graduating from WHS in 1938. After that he worked for the Great Northern Railway at the round house in Whitefish. He joined the United States Army in 1942 and served as a railroad engineer in the 759th Engineer Battalion. He began his service in Alger, North Africa and hauled munitions and supplies to the front lines in the European theater of operations. He hauled munitions for “The Battle of The Bulge”. It was a grueling task where he was without sleep for several days and nights. When he finally got to bed at 2300 he thought he had not slept because the clock was still 2300 when he awakened but he had slept for 24 hours. After 3 years of service he finally came home to the bride he had married just before leaving in 1942. She was Ethelyn Torgerson and they were married for 67 years. He went to work for the Great Northern Railway after the service and retired as an engineer in 1981. His hobbies included fishing and camping. He enjoyed reading and read the Bible cover to cover several times.
Bud was preceded in death by a son, Buz Dalen of Albany, Missouri; by a brother, Ole Dalen of Franklin, West Virginia; and two sisters, Mary Collier of Coulee City, Washington, and Minnie Pike of Whitefish. He is survived by his wife, Ethelyn; one son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Gary and Annette Dalen of Whitefish; four grandchildren: Dr. Paul and Janelle Johnson of Great Falls, Erik and Jennifer Retz of Whitefish, Dr Jeff and Jenny Dalen of Kalispell, Jim Dalen of Whitefish; nine great-grandchildren: Dalen Johnson, Daniel Johnson, Diana Johnson, Denae Johnson, Kaleb Retz, Parker Retz, Ben Dalen, Scotty Dalen, and Luke Dalen; a sister and brother-in –law, Arlene and Ken Field of Kalispell; a sister-in-law, Sugar Dalen of Franklin, West Virginia; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
