Dale Nesbit's Obituary
Dale was a native San Diegan, born June 28, 1942 at Mercy Hospital to Milton and Dorothy Nesbit. He grew up in Spring Valley and La Mesa, participating in Boy Scouts and spending a lot of time outdoors. As a student at Helix High School, he played clarinet in the marching band and ran track and field, graduating in 1960. He continued to City College, where he studied electronics and earned an Associate of Arts Degree. In 1962, Dale enlisted in the Army and was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX where he worked on missile systems. There he met Caroll Cernaghan on New Year’s Eve 1964 and they married on July 10, 1965.Dale and Caroll moved to Fort Monmouth, NJ where he attended signal school and was asked to stay on as an instructor until he was deployed to Vietnam in 1968. Upon his discharge in 1969, Dale and Caroll returned to San Diego, where they lived in Santee and then settled in Tierrasanta in 1973 with their two sons. After leaving the Army, Dale’s education and training led him to a career in electronics manufacturing, including time at Cipher Data, Innovative Data Technologies (IDT), and ComStream. In his family life, Dale was active with his sons in Indian Guides and Boy Scouts, serving as Scout Master for several years. Dale continued to be active with his daughter, serving in the Band Boosters of Serra High School. Dale took his family on many camping trips to his favorite places in the Sierra Nevada mountains – Rock Creek Lake and Yosemite National Park. He spent many hours fishing by the lake, or napping in his camp chair while he waited for a bite.Dale’s interest in genealogy was sparked by a visit to a genealogy fair at the Scottish Rite Temple in the mid-90’s. He was very intrigued by his family history and loved researching his ancestry and that of his extended family. He also held office in the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego for many years. In 2009, Dale took the trip of his lifetime to Scotland with Caroll, her sisters Daphne and Boots, and brother-in-law John. They attended the first ever Scotland Homecoming, celebrating Scottish heritage with Scots from all around the world. It was a weeklong event where each clan had a tent illustrating their heritage and place in Scottish history. The festivities culminated in a parade of clans in Scottish dress up the royal mile from Holyrood Park to Edinburgh Castle. One of the highlights for Dale was marching with his clan for the duration of the parade in his Scottish kilt. Dale is survived by his wife, Caroll; son and daughter-in-law, Craig and Bernice Nesbit and their daughters Caitlin (11) and Keira (8) of San Diego; son and daughter-in-law, Chris and Lisa Nesbit and their daughters Julia (12), Sarah (7), Lauren (4) and Elise (4) of Pennsylvania; daughter and son-in-law, Suzanne and Steve Hoke and their son Henry (2) of Pennsylvania; and a brother, Jay Nesbit.
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