Dale Draper, former Garfield area resident, passed away April 6, 2019 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane at the age of 94. A graveside service will be Saturday, April 13 ^th , at 2:00 p.m. in the Colfax Cemetery with Pastor Dean Ellis officiating. Dale was born August 4, 1924 in Rockford, Washington, the only child, of Foster and Elizabeth Arrasmith Draper. He grew up near Elberton and attended school in Elberton and Garfield before graduating from Colfax High School in 1942. Dale married Evelyn Russell on April 29, 1949 in Spokane and they were looking forward to celebrating 70 years of marriage later this month. They made their home near Elberton where Dale started farming. He was one of the most diligent farmers in the area when it came to erosion control. Dale often said, "I want to leave the dirt for my children and grandchildren, rather than send it down the river." He started to salvage tractors for parts and this blossomed into a full-time business in 1960. He spent countless hours on the phone selling and trading parts to crawlers and wheel-tractors all over the United States. Evelyn kept busy with the bookkeeping for the farm and parts business. They also raised three sons, Dave, Carl and Scott. Dale was a lifelong hunter and an occasional fisherman. He and Evelyn enjoyed traveling and took several trips overseas as well. Dale loved Mercedes-Benz cars and imported several to resell them. Dale was a pioneer in hot rodding crawler tractors by putting bigger engines in them starting with Allis-Chalmers HD5's. Dale and Evelyn moved to Spokane in 1978 and opened a second salvage lot and parts business there. He retired in 1990. Dale is survived by his wife, Evelyn, Spokane; and their three sons; Dave of Mead, WA., Carl, Spokane, and Scott (Laura) Draper of Garfield; 6 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren, of whom he was so proud. The family suggests memorial gifts in his memory be to the NRA, of which he was a lifetime member.