In Memoriam
Dale M. Strain
1923-2018
Dale M. Strain, former President of the Grand Rapids Bar Association, passed away on Saturday, February 10, 2018.
Dale Strain had resided in Fort Myers, Florida, since his retirement as president of the Grand Rapids law firm formerly known as Strain, Murphy, and Vander Wal, P.C. Mr. Strain was born to Arthur Sherman Strain and Bertha Ellen Strain on September 29, 1923 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was a lifelong resident of Grand Rapids, graduating from the old South High School in 1941. Strain then served some three years in the U.S. Air Force in World War II, flying 30+ missions in the European Theatre as a tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator Bomber, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters and the European Theatre Medal with three Battle Stars, among other decorations. After the war he attended the University of Michigan, and upon graduation from the U of M Law School where he received his Juris Doctor in 1951, he joined the firm of Lindsey, Shivel, Phelps, and Vander Wal. He practiced with the same law firm for the next 50 years (though the firm name changed over time).
Eventually, Strain became a Senior Partner and, later, President, of his firm when it became an LLC, under the name of Strain, Murphy and Vander Wal (at the time of Strain's retirement). He was a Life Member of York Lodge #410 F. & A.M., a Life Member of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite - Valley of Grand Rapids, a Life Member of the Saladin Shrine, and a Life Member of Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity.
Strain’s remains will be interred, in a private family service, at Restlawn Cemetary in Grand Rapids, next to his wife, Muriel, who preceded him in death in 1964. He is survived by his children Dale M. Strain Jr., Sheri A. Strain and Robert S. Strain, and three grandsons, Dale M. Strain III, Grant Alexander Strain and Riley Cooper Shanahan-Strain.
Memorial gifts may be made to the American Heart Association.
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