The Mount Vernon arts community encountered a loss when musician Dale Beeks passed away Wednesday, Nov. 29.
Dale and his wife, LeeAnn, moved to Mount Vernon in 1995.
During his time in Mount Vernon, Dale founded or participated in several different bands, including hOly caTz, Wild Shoe Mongers, the 100s, Supro Quattro, Balderdash Ditty, the Mississippi String Band, the Soul Mongers and the Collective (later known as Abbe Creek Collective). Some of his happiest musical moments were when he was on stage with his daughter Emily. He was also especially proud of Balderdash Ditty, a trio he formed with Braden Rood and Kim Benesh. Together, they brought hours and hours of fun and education to school kids throughout the area with a mix of songs, stories and charming goofiness. Among Dale’s recordings are an album of children’s songs, “The Little Quack Clucks,” two albums of roots music with the 100s, and Mississippi String Band’s, “Two Bucks in the Tank.”
Dale’s father, Richard, was a big band trumpeter in the 1940s, so Dale came by his chops naturally. He was a musical sponge, soaking up rock and roll, jazz, blues, folk and Americana from across the years. He loved to play old-time music, the kind created by people without much learning but lots of passion. Wherever he went, he became the nucleus of the music scene; people gravitated to him. Whether he was booking music for local venues, promoting music education for kids, or playing live, he brought countless musicians together in endless combinations of duos, trios and more. He himself played guitar, dobro, mandolin, fiddle and more.
Dale was born in Claremont, Calif., Jan. 3, 1951, to Richard and Elva Beeks. He caught on to mischief and music early on. His other passions came later. Among his pranks growing up in northern California was the night he picked a back-stage lock so he and his friends could sneak into a performance by Jimi Hendrix. Dale was photographed sitting on the stage just a few feet from the legendary guitarist.
He left California for Idaho, where he took a job surveying in the mountains. During that time, he developed a love for precision surveying instruments and for socializing with characters. Among them, his good friend Duke, an avid collector of fine antiquities and curiosities. Duke would become influential in Dale’s discovery of the Midwest. He was drawn to the rich history and vibrant home-grown music scene of Iowa, especially the character of the town of Mount Vernon.
It was in Idaho that he met his wife, Lee Ann, at an antiques auction. Actually, their respective kids met by squabbling in the bleachers. Fate took its course and Dale asked her to marry him. “You better think about this. I’ve got four kids!” Lee Ann replied, but Dale was stubborn, “I have thought about this. I was a camp counselor”, and they married Oct. 5, 1985.
During their years in Idaho, they raised their blended family. Dale pursued his career as a collector and dealer of antique surveying and scientific instruments. As happens with people who immerse themselves in antiquities, he was soon running across objects well outside his wheelhouse. For example, the broadsheet hand-printed by Benjamin Franklin during the French and Indian War and the surveyors’ compass given as a gift by George Washington to his grandson. At some point in his travels, Dale acquired an entire cabinet of glass eyeballs, the wares of a traveling salesman who visited doctors with patients needing to match a missing eye. Many of these eyeballs ended up being given as gifts by Dale to friends and family.
By the time they moved to Mount Vernon, Dale was nationally known as a collector and merchant of rare and unusual scientific instruments. He consulted with numerous major museums and authenticated and sold rarities to highly specialized collectors. He also taught himself how to restore scientific and musical instruments, as well as antique firearms.
At the center of his life was family, but not always family in the blood sense. For Dale, family included the people Lee Ann and he had brought into the world, as well as numerous others who adopted him as a brother, a father and grandfather figure. He spent countless hours in his shop with his grandson Xander, showing the youngster how to take things apart, and even more importantly, how to put them back together. The pair turned out endless gee-gaws and whirlygigs which became the prized possessions of many. His nieces and nephews called him “Uncle Dale the Great.”
Not all of Dale’s family had just two legs. It was common to see Dale riding around town in his Ukrainian-built sidecar the “Ural” with a dog riding shotgun, sometimes outfitted with customized doggie goggles. Dale’s magnetism extended to animals of all varieties, and many found comfort nestled in his arms or camped out under his chair.
Dale loved to engage with the natural world. After a pair of nesting bald eagles set up shop across the road, Dale put out an APB for roadkill. He was soon busy taking calls from his network of roadkill spotters. He would retrieve the carcasses and relocate them to the land behind his house. He nourished the local eagles during some especially cold winters in this manner. This project came to an end when his granddog became overly interested in the carcasses and scared the eagles away from their buffet.
When he passed away Nov. 29, Dale left behind many beloved family members, countless fellow musicians, and a host of friends across the country. Among the family members grieving his departure are his wife, Lee Ann, his daughter, Feather and son-in-law Bryon and their children Allan, Paige, and Remi; his daughter Connie and her son Xander; his daughters Emily and Eva; his son Ryan; and his sister Ellen and brother-in-law David and their children. He was preceded in death by his son, Scott.
It’s always sad when people pass on but this one really hurt. Dale Beeks was beloved in the community – in many communities – and his passing leaves us sadder but better for having known and loved him. Dale leaves us with a message important to him, “Surround yourself with those passionate for life; pay it forward to someone in need.” And if you listen carefully, you may hear a dobro on the breeze, somewhere in the sunset.
A celebration of Dale’s life will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 4300 Trailridge Road, Cedar Rapids at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30.
Additionally, there will be a musical celebration and remembrance of Dale’s life Saturday, March 23, in the Uptown Theatre of the First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon.

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Dale Beeks