S. Dale Lathers celebrated his 84th birthday on February 11, 2023, and passed on Feb.14, 2023, with his wife, Jan, holding his hands. Dale was the 7th child and 5th son born to Swift and Celia (Spooner) Lathers of Mears.

In the summers of 1958-1965, Dale earned money for college by driving dune buggies for his brother Bill at Bill's Dune Rides at Silver Lake. On one fateful day, he met his love, Janet Greiner, at the State Park and took her on her first thrill ride on his Flying Saucer dune buggy. This was the start of their many years together; they were married on January 27th, 1962, at St. Gregory's Church in Hart.

Dale was a respected educator. After graduating from Western Michigan University in 1962, Dale did his student teaching at Godwin Heights School and started his first teaching job at Peach Ridge Elementary. In the fall of 1962, he moved to the then brand-new Northview High School in Grand Rapids, teaching speech, drama, and debate. In his first year, his debate team won the State Title. Dale and Jan moved to Mears in 1965, where Dale took the position of teacher/principal at the Mears School. That summer, Dale completed his Master's Degree in Education at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.

In September 1966, Dale accepted the Junior High Principal position in Grant, Michigan and went on to serve as Assistant Superintendent for the district. Dale's family bought their first home and spent five years there. Dale became Special Project Director and coordinated the Migrant Program, bringing teachers from Texas to Michigan for the summer. He created Camp Success using a Boy Scout camp for one week each fall, designed so underprivileged kids could have a week of success before the school year started. Dale joined the Jaycees Organization and within a year was serving as their State Vice President.

In September of 1970, Dale accepted the position of Executive Director of the Saginaw Education Association. This move was an eventful 2 1/2 years serving 750 teachers in Saginaw, Michigan.

In January 1973, Dale was offered the position of Executive Director of Ottawa County School Employees in Holland, MI, serving over 1000 teachers in several school districts. Excited to return to Western Michigan, he and his family moved to Holland and spent 21 years there raising their children, leaving many good friends when they moved to Holland. Dale completed his Educational Specialist degree at Michigan State University and was the main speaker at many MEA conferences. While living in Holland, Dale took up flying as he was part-owner of a Cessna 182. He would fly his colleges to various meetings in Lansing or the U.P. One year, he was invited to speak at a conference in Maui, giving Dale and Jan a 4-day vacation in Hawaii.

Dale loved plays and theatre, especially Shakespeare. In his college days at WMU, he played the role of Eugene Gant in "Look Homeward Angel" and Capulet in "Romeo and Juliet." He was the Rabbi in a Holland Community Theatre production of "Fiddler on the Roof" and was one of the lead actors in "Spoon River Anthology" at Fremont Community Theatre. Dale and Jan's favorite trips were to see plays at the Shakespearian Festival in Stratford, Ontario. They also saw theatre in London and traveled to Paris and Rome. They spent a week in Ireland finding the ancestral town Cootehill in County Cavan and a few days there looking for Lathers history. Throughout his life, he had extraordinary public speaking and storytelling abilities. He always had the perfect story to tell to break the ice in any situation.

In 1978 at age 40, Dale, who had always been interested in the law, started Cooley Law School part-time. He graduated with a Law Degree of Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude, in January of 1981. Dale continued to work for the Michigan Education Association as a lawyer, but after five years became tired of traveling and decided to work back in West Michigan part-time and started a small law practice in Grand Haven.

When Dale retired in 1995, he and Jan sold their Holland home and moved to Silver Lake in Mears. Dale wanted to return to "God's Country" and the dunes. He loved being in Mears. He often said that the 4-way stop in Mears was the "Center of the Universe."

Jan and Dale bought their dream home overlooking Silver Lake and operated a Bed and Breakfast for seven years. Dale could take his dune buggy up on the dunes at any time. In the summer of 2009, his 1959 Ford dune buggy had been adventuring on the dunes for 50 years, so Dale and Jan had a birthday party for their dune buggy and invited family friends to join them at the lake.

Dale will be greatly missed in the Mears community. Even once he was retired, Dale stayed busy. He was active in the Oceana County Historical and Genealogical Society and served as president of the Society for several years. The Historical Park in Mears was created under his guidance, and the William Lathers Transportation Museum was built to honor his brother Bill. A significant accomplishment for the Society was moving the Swedish Church to the Historical Park. A large addition was added to the Transportation Museum, and next will be a large barn to accommodate tractors.

Dale had a gift for seeing the solution to problems others were struggling with. He served on several boards in Oceana County, including the Hart School Board and the Oceana County Medical Care Facility Board. Dale helped fund many projects in Oceana County as the Trustee of his brother Bill's estate, and was active in many community projects in Golden Township. For example, he contributed to improvements to Johnson Park adding a pavilion, pickle ball courts, and more. He negotiated for the last dune hill between the public dune ride area and the Silver Ridge development to be kept as a nature preserve.

Before his illness, Dale could be regularly found on the phone working on new projects to improve the lives of those in Golden Township. Even once bedridden, he kept a legal pad and pen at his side for all the ideas he had for the future. He would always tell Jan, "I still have so much work to do." His brilliance and guidance will be missed by the many who have worked with him.

Dale is survived by his wife of 61 years, Janet (Greiner) Lathers; his sons Gregory Swift Lathers, Jeffrey Dale Lathers, Jonathon Lavern Lathers, and his partner, Dawn Highhouse; his grandchildren, Hannah Lathers, Joshua Lathers, and Makaya Lathers; his sister-in-law Martha Greiner, nephews and nieces, Mark Henderson, Sari Henderson, Ed and Jill (Henderson) Dedic, Bill and Sharon (Lathers) Sponhauer, Bob and Sue (Lathers) Mitchell, Randy and Christie (Lathers) Malliett, Dick and Mary Lathers, Patrick & Yvonne Greiner, Glen & Jo Ann Lathers, Jim Lathers, Don & Janice Lathers, Tom & Marlene Lathers, Bob & Christa Lathers, Brian Greiner, David & Diane Greiner, Robert Henderson, Kathy (Yutzy) Lathers, Mary Jane & Clay (Greiner) Groh, Terry & Zeke (Greiner) Johnson, Marjorie Greiner, Nancy & Bill (Greiner) Fritsch;  and many members of the Lathers and Greiner families.

He was preceded in death by his son, Jesse Gray Lathers; his parents, Swift and Celia (Spooner) Lathers, baby brother, Harold; his sister, Thelma (Lathers) Vanderlaan and; brothers, William and Donna (Schmidt) Lathers, Forest and Beverly (Foster) Lathers, Nathan and Martha (Kokx) Lathers, Birch Lathers; his nephews, Kenneth, Doug, and Jerry Lathers; his brothers-in-law David and Nick Greiner, John VanderLaan; sisters-in-law, Hazel Greiner and Carolyn Merkle.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Golden Township Johnson Park Fund, at  P.O. Box 26, Mears, Michigan 49436.

A private memorial celebration will be held in the spring, with "Big Red," his 1959 Ford dune buggy.

Beacon Cremation & Funeral Service, King-Hart Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.

www.beaconfh.com