Folsom Funeral Service

David “Dave” Milton Seale, 91, of 58 Sanderson Ave., Dedham, MA, died peacefully of natural causes on September 8, 2023 at Lowell General Hospital, Lowell, MA.

David was born on June 28, 1932 and was delivered on the kitchen table of his grandparents’ parsonage on Cottage Street in Ridgewood, New Jersey.  David lived in Dedham from the age of 3 (1935).  His parents, H. Herbert and Genevieve Seale, were active in the Dedham community between 1905 and 1980.  The family was involved with both The Church of the Good Shepard and the First Church and Parish –Unitarian Universalist.  From 1934 – 1940, David lived at 311 Colburn St in Dedham until the family moved to 58 Sanderson Ave in 1941.   David attended the Avery and Oakdale elementary schools and Dedham Middle School and High School, graduating in 1951. 

David grew up during US depression times (1929-1939) and during WWII (1939 to 1945).  He shared countless memories of growing up in Dedham during these times.  His stories evoked a simple but rich life, not unlike scenes from Huckleberry Fin or a Norman Rockwell painting. Memories included helping tend the family Victory Garden both at his house and in a shared plot across from the Endicott Estate; canning of fruits and vegetables and composting, and; the egg man coming around once a week.  His many jobs from late elementary school through junior high included the classics of mowing lawns, shoveling driveways, paper routes, babysitting, gardening, cleaning windows.

From age 9, Dave’s lifelong love of airplanes was well underway.  He designed and built hundreds of model planes during elementary and middle school.  A favorite past-time with friends was riding his bike to watch the WWII planes land at the Canton air field; and from his aunt’s house on top of Curve Terrace in Dedham, he’d watch the training flights at Readville, Hyde Park.  During the presidential election of 1940, he still recalled seeing the spot lights on Blue Hill that were set to shine if Wendell Wilke won the election.  The family was on the lookout for the lights, but Wendell was not to win!

Dave’s first real job in junior high was tending the neighbor’s, Mr. Lester Chilson’s, rose garden on Saturday mornings.  He was paid the prevailing minimum wage, $ 0.40/hour.  Mr. Chilson was New England VP of the American Rose Society and his backyard show garden was, by all reports, spectacular.  Adding to this fact, Grampa Herbie himself had over 100 rose bushes.  We suspect that this may be where Dad developed his distaste for roses. 

In Junior High, Dave marched with his drum early every Monday morning to Endicott Station, accompanying the WWII draftees as they prepared to board the train to Boston.  He carried vivid memories of the large black steam engine.  Junior high memories also included ballroom dancing lessons, collecting newspapers, tin cans, tires and iron scraps to recycle for the war effort, and rationing of foods such as butter, milk and sugar.  Later jobs during high school included setting bowling pins at the “Liedenkrantz” German club in West Roxbury.  He also worked at the Oakdale drug store as a soda jerk and helped build numerous homes in the Dedham area. 

Dave joined the Navy Submarine Corps reserves during his senior year of high school in 1950, at the beginning of the Korean War.  After high school, Dave joined the Naval Air Service (NAS), attending Aviation Prep School in Jacksonville, FL for training in electronics in 1952.  He was then assigned to the NAS aviation electronics technician’s school in Memphis, TN.  Dave married his high-school sweetheart, Rosemarie Whitty from Quincy Street, Dedham on Aug. 15, 1952 in Memphis.  Dave’s next Navy assignment was to Corpus Christie, TX.  In Corpus Christie, Dave was part of a squadron that serviced the electronic equipment on the Martin PBM Mariner.  After being honorably discharged from the Navy at the end of the Korean War in 1953, David spent two years at UMass Amherst, where he studied descriptive geometry and mechanical drafting.  Although his study was cut short due to chronic eye conditions that emerged at this time, his UMass study would serve him well in his many years of design drafting and mechanical engineering to follow. 

For the initial years of his post-war/cold war career, Dave held a series of drafting positions in smaller companies in MA and CT.  Following this, he honed his drafting and management skills at Sylvania (Needham, Waltham, MA) (1959); Itek (Lexington, MA) (1968) and Raytheon (Sudbury, MA).  In December 1960, Dave and Rose moved their growing family of 5 into a new home at 70 Helen Drive in Marlboro.  While at Sylvania, Dave worked on the “Mobi Dick” project for the Air Force (reconnaissance balloons using cameras).  At Raytheon, he worked on the COMSAT (commercial communications satellite) system.  Dave and Rosemarie divorced in 1977.   While working at Itek in late 1979 designing camera projects for planes and satellites, Dave met and then married his soulmate, Irene Alice McNeil from Somerville, MA on July 17, 1980.  They were happily married for 43 years.

Dave was an avid, accomplished sailor for over 30 years, sailing primarily out of Beverly, Salem and Marian, MA.  He sailed three boats during this time:  Velaa-se (1972-1978 – 25’ sloop, Beverly, Salem, Wareham, MA); Rainbow (1980-1982 – 31” Cheoy Lee Ketch, Marion, MA); Shearwater (1988 – 33’ Cheoy Lee Cutter/Ketch, Marion, MA). 

Beginning in 2000, following his sailing years, Dave was active in the Millis Model Aircraft Club, Millis, MA and the South Shore RC Club in Bridgewater, MA.  At one point the guys at Millis RC Club joked that they should rename the club to the David Seale RC Club since he was the treasurer, the newsletter editor, the secretary, and chaired several fun fly activities. He built dozens of RC planes from scratch and his RC work led him to interactions with people across the country.

Dad (and Mom) made it a point to share their wholesome upbring to their large family. They were adventurers at heart…sailing, airplanes, camping, hiking, biking, motor-boating and water-skiing, scouts, and sports.  Our many camping trips as a family took us throughout New England and Eastern Canada.  These were highlights of our summers growing up and we have the slides to prove it.

Dad had an amazing affinity for building. He could dream it, plan it, source it and build it – be it an outdoor patio, a vegetable garden, house additions, remodeling his three ocean going sailboats or even school projects and Pinewood Derby cars for scouting.  He did just about all work himself and he taught his children how to build their projects.

While not always a model student in school, he excelled in any area that interested him, such as geometry, sailing – a true lover of learning. He was an encyclopedia and lover of music and movies.  Most nights he slept with a radio tucked under his pillow to enjoy many genres of music and late-night talk shows; and if you had a movie question, he could answer it by recalling hundreds of movies and actors.

An independent thinker who preferred forming his own opinions and setting his own agenda.  He could be tough to influence.  This trait was on full display even as a high school student who, when enlisting in the Navy, was the only person in his group of friends who did not get a tattoo.  He enjoyed being an occasional non-conformist, especially if there was an element of humor associated with it. Dad passed these traits onto his six children.

In many ways, Dave was a straight-forward person, one who strove to keep things simple, never seeking the limelight.  Someone who lived by traditional, time-tested values.  Yet he was also a person of depth and substance, one with the enormous accomplishment from a lifetime of keeping his nose to the grindstone each day.

He was a jokester – a trait we believe he acquired from his grandfather, the Rev. Milton Muder, adding his own “Dad-isms” to the ongoing comedy routine.  Several of his children have adopted this similar trait.

Dad never met a dog he didn’t like and always had a few treats in his pockets. He had several dogs growing up and was extremely fond of them.  He would recollect stories from the days before leash laws that captured the lives and adventures of the individual dogs in the neighborhood, especially the dogs who kept Grandpa Herbie company along his postal routes.  He also cared for the backyard animals, as well as the neighbor’s cat, “Little Dude” – much like his parents and grandparents did before him.

David is predeceased by his parents, H. Herbert Seale and Genevieve Seale of Dedham, MA, his sister, Margaret Seale Bridges of Pittsford, NY and Gilmanton, NH, his ex-wife, Rosemarie Whitty Seale of Dedham, MA and his grand-daughter, Nicole Seale of Marlboro, MA.

David is survived by his loving wife of 43 years, Irene Alice McNeil Seale, of Somerville and Dedham, MA.  He is also survived by his 6 children: Marilyn Seale Real and husband, Edward Real (Nashua, NH); Lee Seale Connor and husband, Gary Connor (Madison, AL); Eugene David Seale (Lawrenceville, GA); Barry David Seale (Worcester, MA); David Kenneth Seale (Hudson, NH); and, Christine Seale Breault and husband, Richard Breault (Charlton, MA).  David is also survived by his sixteen grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.

We will remember Dad as a loving husband and father for his family. He was always available, always encouraging.  We learned that when dad was around it was FUN!

Dad will be missed by everyone who knew him, especially his children and grandchildren.

“May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

We thank Folsom’s Funeral Home in Dedham, MA.   A private memorial gathering is planned by the immediate family. Upon Irene’s passing there will be a joint service and burial at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, MA.

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