Dale "Water Buffalo" Mortensen, 77, a resident of South Bend and former Longshoreman in Seattle, died Tuesday night, December 27, 2011, at his home in South Bend. Dale was born on May 28, 1934, in Bellingham to Christain and Lonnie (Johnson) Mortensen. He attended Bellingham High School. He moved to Seattle and worked as a Longshoreman for 30 years.

He married Barbara Leonard; they had two sons, Jeffrey and Steven. In 1973, Dale married Susan Heber in Bellingham; they then moved to South Bend. Susan died on April 1, 2004, in South Bend. On December 30, 2005, Dale married Joanne Schmid Strunk in South Bend; she resides at the family home.

Dale enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was a member of the Raymond Masonic Lodge #48 and a member of The Shrine Lodge of Seattle. Dale is survived by his wife, Joanne Mortensen, of South Bend; two sons: Jeffrey of Maple Falls, and Steven of South Bend; a step daughter, Tammy Calvert of Indianapolis; stepsons, Larry and wife, Dora Strunk, of Alaska, and Terry and wife, Lisa Strunk, of Spokane; stepdaughters, Kathy and husband, David Reid, of Reno and Tammy and husband, Thad McMullen, of Deer Park; one granddaughter, 17 step-grandchildren and nine step-great grandchildren.

A brother, Douglass, and a sister, Ardell Schmidke, preceded Dale in death. The family asks that donations be made to First Baptist Church of South Bend, Deacon’s Fund or Women’s Ministries, P.O. Box 147, South Bend, WA, 98586.

A celebration of Dale’s life was held on December 31 at First Baptist Church of South Bend. Cremation arrangements are through Evergreen Mortuary & Cremation in Aberdeen.