Dale Eshleman

Dale Norman Eshleman, born May 7, 1956, passed away on August 6, 2012. He was the youngest of three children, the only son of Don and Muriel Eshleman. Dale was born and raised in Salem, Oregon where he attended North Salem High School and graduated in 1974. He is survived by his daughter, Amber; sister, Louise; as well as many extended family members who were very close to him.

Dale had a passion for his family. Many would describe him as kind, caring, and compassionate. He moved in with his parents about three years before they passed away for the sole purpose of tending to their every need, to allow them to continue to live at home. He did this while working full-time at a very physically demanding job with Little Debbie, and doing things such as rushing to his daughter's house at 2:00 in the morning because she needed a spider killed. 'Selfless' is not a strong enough word to describe Dale.

Ask his friends and family what he truly enjoyed and the answer would revolve around spending time with his family, dogs, and enjoying nature. His nephews have many fond memories of hiking and camping trips up at North Fork over the years.

A Celebration of Life will be held Wednesday, August 15th at 4pm at Howell-Edwards-Doerksen with Rigdon-Ransom Funeral Directors. To leave audio or online condolences please visit www.HED-FH.com. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Oregon Humane Society PO Box 11364 Portland, Oregon 97211.

He was much loved and will be missed by all who knew him.

I wanted to share some stories to reflect the person that my dad was and explain why my cousins were always so jealous and constantly felt the need to remind me how spoiled I was.

Being that my parents divorced when I was very young, a lot of people assume that I got to see my dad every other weekend growing up. This is far from accurate. My dad was never a part time dad and always made a point to make sure I knew that I was the most important person in his life. He and my mom worked together as a team to raise me. We did everything together as a family such as holiday get togethers and a trip to Reno for my 21st birthday. They made a point never to argue with each other in front of me. They were the epidemy of how parents are supposed to behave, but rarely do.

From childhood until adulthood I could count on him for anything. As an example, at the age of 3 years old I had stuffed animal named popcorn that I had taken with me on a trip to the beach. When we got home we realized I had left popcorn behind. Dad drove back that night to get it for me. I doubt there are a lot of parents willing to drive an additional 100 miles for a stuffed animal. In fact, I highly doubt that I would.

Camping, hiking, boating, snow and water skiing, fishing, swimming, vacations to Disneyland and the Bahamas, helping me to buy my first car, paying for college, mowing my lawn, coming in my house to look for intruders when he would bring me home…I could spend an eternity listing everything he has done for me. In short, going above and beyond what is expected of a dad and always welcoming my friends and family to join.

I am now being forced to move on without him. When I have thought about this time coming I never imagined I would be able to do it, but have to keep telling myself that I have to. I will do whatever I can to raise my daughter to not only enjoy life as he once did, but also ensure she fully understands that all of the good things about her are simply just a reflection of him. People are constantly telling me what a great daughter I was to my dad, but truth be told my efforts to be a good daughter did not even come close to compare to the dad that he was to me.

To conclude, I would like to encourage all of you to please not be angry with him. It would seem on the surface that this might be a natural emotion to have, but let me assure you that he is not deserving of it. There are thousands of questions that we all have that will never have answers, but there is no question that my dad would ever do anything to hurt me or anyone else that he loved. With his granddaughter on the way, I am completely certain that this was not a choice for him. He was not in his right mind and felt in that moment that there were no other options. I cannot ask you to not be sad, but be sad because you miss him, please do not make him feel bad for a decision that was not his…. I love you daddy.