Harold Dale Jones was born at a maternity home in Sturgis, SD, on December 22, 1936, to Darrell C. "Buster" Jones and Luberta Dow Jones. He joined an older brother, Bobby, and later his little sister, Ida Mae, joined the family. His parents ranched near Stoneville, SD. His father was also a musician, and Dale went to his first New Year's Eve dance when he was only a few days old. Dale attended country school at Stoneville, followed by two years at Nisland High School, and graduated from the School of Agriculture in Brookings.

Dale had polio as a young child and survived. He delighted in the fact that, even though his illness left him with one leg a couple inches shorter than the other, he was inducted into the US Army, and spent a long term of duty in Germany. There, he met and married Helga Seidel. With a daughter, Regine Ursula, and a son, Kenneth Dale, both born in Germany, they returned to the States, and their son, Troy Dean, was born several
years later.

Dale built his own home, and he and Helga operated Helga's Home, a supervised living care facility. Dale was a five-state area coordinator for Youth for Understanding and later for International Cultural Exchange, bringing students from countries all over the world and placing them with families for a high school year. German student, Christine (Hoffer) Hamer, became one of the family, and thereafter came back to visit many times,
the last time in October of this year. Patricia Rangel Pestana (Brazil), Sigrid Klasmann (Germany), and Shalimar Ramos Mujica (Venezuela) were also welcomed as temporary daughters.

Dale liked to tell that he began working at the age of fourteen as a sheepherder. He also worked for his uncle, Ray, at Dow Sanitation. After his return from Germany, he worked as a millwright in constructing Titan missile sites and for a time, he sold tractors and farm equipment out of Belle Fourche, and for Don's Implement in Sturgis. He operated a shoe and saddle repair shop in Sturgis, and then went on to develop his furnace and heating equipment business, Hometown Energy. He also liked to refer to himself as a chimneysweep. He attended Black Hills State College, SD School of Mines and Technology, and the Rapid City School of Nursing. In the late 1970's, he discovered his true passion by training and becoming a nationally certified clinical hypnotherapist, and thereafter maintained a practice in Sturgis for the rest of his life. He also founded the Hypnotism
Training Institute, and trained many students as therapists. For many years in the 1980's, he presented programs at the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship Retreats at Black Hills State University in Spearfish.

Dale was a natural-born entertainer and comic. For many summers, he performed three times a week as one of the Jesus' disciples in the Black Hills Passion Play in Spearfish. He produced his stage shows over the years as a hypnotist in the local area and in several surrounding states and did private shows for family and business Christmas parties. He loved performing "The Night Before" Christmas" in costume at nursing homes and parties. In 1994, Dale bought his first wooden flute, and before long he designed, carved, and sold his own instruments. His flute went with him everywhere he went, fascinating children and adults alike, and his music comforted many a fussy baby. He visited patients in area hospitals and nursing homes and played for them and was asked to play at many weddings and funerals, including graveside rites at Black Hills National Cemetery.

Dale met Deanna Clark in 1986, and they joined their lives together for nearly thirty years. As part of their journey, they began a life-long study in the Concept Therapy educational program, attended classes here in South Dakota, and traveled many times for higher level training at the CT Institute in Boerne, TX, completing every course available. For about twenty years, beginning in 1988, they held weekly classes at their Institute, teaching Concept Therapy, meditation, selfhypnosis, and various other related self-improvement and spiritual growth topics.

In the Sturgis area, Dale served for thirty-five years on the Board of Serenity, Inc., holding various offices up to the time he died. He was a long-time member of the Olive Branch #47 AF & AM Masonic Lodge in Sturgis and was also a member of the Deadwood Scottish Rite.

On June 26, 1992, Dale and Dee were ordained at Bear Butte State Park as ministers in Universal Brotherhood. Through their ministry, the High Plains Spiritual Life Center, they performed countless weddings and other ceremonies. They attended every Spiritual Unity of the World/Gathering of Eagles event in the United States from 1995 through 2016, and help organize those held in the Black Hills area.

Harold Dale Jones, 79, Sturgis, died Friday, November 11, 2016, at Sturgis Regional Hospital.

He is survived by his wife of 27 years, Deanna Clark; his daughter, Regine (Joe Mack) and grandson, Brandon Jones; his son, Kenny (Mary Sundet Jones) and grandson, Sam, and his son, Troy, and granddaughters, Codi, Celie, and Baylee; first wife, Helga Rogers (Max); brother, Bobbie Jones (Aggie) and their children; and sister, Ida Mae Rounds (Arlen) and their children; and sister-in-law, Ursula Sharp, and brother-in-law, Carl Wahl,
and their children. Among his closest circle of adopted family are John and Judi Palmer of Australia, Katharina and Gerard Berthie-Donnadieu in France, Christine Hamer in Germany, Clay and Mary Ellen Uptain in Colorado, Maxine Maeder in St. Louis, MO, and Ricky Martin of Silver City, NM.

Dale was preceded in death by his parents; a niece, Vivien Wahl Pritchard; former fiancé, Elaine Viles; Dale and Dee's adopted daughter, Theresa Joseph; and spiritual mentors, Grover Horned Antelope and Ralph Reddfox.

It is said that in his later years, Dale found his true calling as a Dumpster-Diver Extraordinaire, and was often spotted riding one of his many scooters on the streets and byways around town in Sturgis. It is certainly true that – while he was always willing to give something away to someone who needed it, he never wanted to give up on anyone or anything, including his friends and loved ones gathered here today.

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