Dale was the son of Rob and Nita West, brother to Jenni Lee, Tania and Kerri.
He was born in Cowell on Eyre Peninsula and being the son of a minister, he moved to many parts of South Australia, attending six schools over 13 years.
After attending country schools up until Year 11, he was then sent to Adelaide from Kimba to board at Westminster College.
He rucked for the First XVIII ‘with distinction’ according to his headmaster, who wasn’t overly disappointed that Dale repeated Year 12, before continuing his footy career at Myponga, Hahndorf (where he won the association medal), Adelaide Uni and Rostrevor Old Collegians (ROCs).
When an opportunity came for him to try out at Sturt in the SANFL, at his first training coach Jack Oatey asked him to hit him on the chest with a kick from 25 yards. Dale sprayed it, and that was his chance blown. It was a long bus ride back to Myponga from there.
After tearing his medial ligament at ROCs Dale turned his focus to studying social work at the SA Institute of Technology – now UniSA – where he met his wife, Sharne Hamra.
The two bonded over their commitment to working with and for people who have experienced some form of disadvantage in their lives. Dale left university to commence work at a residential care facility where he loved nothing more than playing carpet bowls with the residents most afternoons.
From there, he moved to aged care and private hospitals in Melbourne and finally found his home at Centacare in Adelaide in 1989. Here he found a work environment where he was able to live out his values and social justice principles in a really practical way.
There are many examples of where Dale did this through his 32 years at Centacare but one achievement that was very close to his heart was his work at Lumiere where women with significant disabilities were totally dependent on their carers. Dale was approached by the women’s parents to take over this facility and provide their children with the care they deserved and he succeeded in gaining an exemption to employ only female staff of the highest quality.
Dale cared deeply for people experiencing disadvantage and exclusion and was able to make a difference in the lives of so many.
He never held any formal qualification but his leadership skills were greatly respected and he was pivotal in developing and supporting other Centacare agencies around Australia including Port Pirie and Darwin dioceses.
In 2009 Archbishop Philip Wilson added to Dale’s responsibilities with the role of director of Property and Finance for the Church. He was also a member of the governing council of Nazareth College for more than 12 years and gave 25 years of service on the Catherine House Board of Management.
Dale was a voice for justice and fairness in the high-profile case of the Bakhtiari family, who were refugees from Afghanistan. In 2002 he was appointed by the Family Court to be the children’s legal guardian. Two of the now adult Bakhtiari children attended the funeral.
Outside of work, his great love was horse racing, and he was a life member of the Murray Bridge Racing Club.
His passion for horse racing took him to horse ownership, including having a runner at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day. His passion wasn’t just around the horses, but the racing community as well.
Climbing was another big hobby. His first goal was to break 40 minutes walking to the summit of Mount Lofty from the car park. His record was 34.39.
He then took this hobby to Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Elberos, Antartica, Aconcagua, Choyou in Tibet, Basecamp (with youngest daughter Zoe in a trip he held dear), the Equador Volcanos and island peak. He completed four of the seven summits despite blood clots, kidney stones, losing consciousness and numerous soft tissue injuries.
While he enjoyed climbing, his obsession was AFL and the Geelong Cats. There were many road trips to games, including all the losing and winning grand finals.
Dale became a sponsor of the Cats and he got to sit in the box with Chris Scott for a Collingwood game.
He was very involved and hands on in his children’s lives. He shared their interests – horse racing and footy with the boys, music with Jayne and mountain climbing with Zoe. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to support them in their interests. Spending time together as a family was a key motivation for him.
One of Dale’s trademarks was his humour. He had such a quick wit that it would take many people minutes before they realised his humourous play on words.
Humour would often come out in his media interviews, starting with the introduction of Coco to the ABC 891 Breakfast Program, the original Coco being the West family guinea pig.
Even after being diagnosed with terminal cancer 18 months ago, Dale never gave up his sense of humour, his contact with people and his love of all types of sport.
His commitment to his daily step count never faulted, to the point where he clocked up 10,000 steps in his small room at the RAH.
From the day of his diagnosis, he was philosophical about his situation because he felt he had lived a full and meaningful life. He had travelled extensively, climbed many mountains, developed a very successful social welfare organisation and raised and supported a loving family. He was a devoted son, trusting brother, loving husband, father and friend.
Dale’s final words to his family were ‘be together, love each other and find times to be happy in life’.
Taken from the eulogies of Sharne and Nikolas West and Mgr David Cappo.
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