Dale Samuelson

Dale Silas Samuelson Tucson, AZDale Silas Samuelson, 88, died peacefully in his sleep on November 15th, 2012 in Tucson, Arizona. He was born in Hastings, Nebraska on July 5, 1924, the son of Silas Sylvester Samuelson and Emma Amanda Peterson. Dale attended Hastings High School and continued his education at Hastings College, which he attended for two years before joining the Army during World War II. He was sent by the Army to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, where he attended the Army Specialized Training Program. After he was discharged from the Army, he continued to attend Virginia Tech and in June 1947 received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. While attending Virginia Tech, Dale met his future wife, Lillian Thompson of Boydton, Virginia. Dale and Lillian moved to Chicago after his graduation from Virginia Tech and were married on November 1, 1947 at the Fourth Presbyterian Church. Dale went on to receive a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1950 and a master's degree in business administration from New York University in New York City in 1956. Dale was employed in the fields of marketing and engineering with a variety of companies over his career; he was a publicity writer for Motorola in Chicago, Illinois; an advertising manager for Hammerland Manufacturing in New York City; a marketing manager for Applied Science Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey; director of marketing for Wilcox Electric Company in Kansas City, Kansas and sales manager for Empire Devices in Amsterdam, New York. Empire Devices was sold to the Singer Company, known for their sewing machines, in the fall of 1963, and the company was moved to Bridgeport Connecticut. In the fall of 1963, Dale and 10 other former employees of Empire Devices, founded Electro-Metrics Corporation of Amsterdam, New York. Dale, along with William Lambdin Sr. of Broadalbin, New York, led the company as partners during a time when it faced many challenges, including a shortage of financing and a trade secrets lawsuit by the Singer Company. Financing became available when Electro-Metrics was acquired by Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation. Fairchild is known for having acquired a number of small high-tech companies during the 1960s, including one whose key employees later left to found Intel Corporation. Singer soon dropped their suit, and by mid-1967 Electro-Metrics had grown to employ 150 people. Electro-Metrics still exists in 2012, almost 50 years later, although it is now an independent company and has relocated to Johnstown, New York. Dale left Electro-Metrics in the early 1970s and later started his own company, Electro-Modular Systems of Guilderland, New York, where he worked as a sales representative for a variety of companies that sold specialized equipment used to test for and manage radio-frequency interference. He had his office in the back of his wife's shop, American Indian Treasures, where they assisted each other in their individual businesses for almost 20 years until they both retired in 1990. Dale lived in the New York Capital District region for over 50 years, first in Pattersonville, then Guilderland, and most recently in Niskayuna at the Glen Eddy retirement community. In his last year he lived in Tucson, Arizona, near his daughter, Ann Samuelson. Dale had a lifelong interest in Native Americans, traveling with Lillian to most of the Indian reservations in the country and studying the huge variety of Native American cultures. With Lillian, he was also an avid birder and naturalist. Together they traveled to approximately 80 different countries to meet people from other cultures and study birds. He saw nearly half of the 10,000 species of birds existing in the world. He was a lifetime member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and of Sigma Delta Chi, a national journalistic fraternity. He was an active member of the Schenectady Unitarian Church for 49 years. He was previously a member of the Unitarian Churches in Trenton, New Jersey, Dallas, Texas, Princeton, New Jersey and Kansas City, Kansas. He was also a supporter of The Nature Conservancy, Planned Parenthood, and the American Civil Liberties Union. He is survived by his two children, Ralph Samuelson of Tokyo, Japan, and Ann Samuelson of Tucson, Arizona. Additionally, he is survived by his nieces and their families, Sandy Godfrey Wagner and Lynn Godfrey Queensen. He was predeceased by his wife, Lillian Thompson Samuelson (in 2011); and by his sister, Rosella Samuelson Godfrey (Mrs. David C. Godfrey). He gave his body to the Willed Body Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona. No memorial service is currently planned. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Nature Conservancy, PO Box 6014, Albert Lea, MN 56007 (please identify it's a memorial tribute for Dale Samuelson) or online at https://support.nature.org/ site/Donation2?df]id= 5560&5560.donation=form1 See Lillian Samuelson's obituary on http://www.legacy. com/obituaries/dailygazette/ obituary.aspx?pid=147899479 #fb published in The Daily Gazette Co. on January 18, 2011.