Dale Retallic, 72, of Atlantic, Iowa, was welcomed into his Heavenly Home, Sunday, February 22, 2026, at home.
He is survived by his wife, Vickie Retallic; daughter, Whitney (Erica Labb) Retallic; sons, Justin (Kallie) Retallic and Troy (Laura) Retallic; 6 grandchildren; and siblings, Barb (Lowell) Reams and Marcella (Howard) Henderson.
Open visitation, with no family present, will begin at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, March 5th at Roland Funeral Home in Atlantic, followed by visitation with the family present from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, March 6th at the First United Methodist Church in Atlantic. The service will be recorded and available on the funeral home website by end of day Friday.
Burial will be in the Atlantic Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family for later designation to causes that Dale was passionate about.
Roland Funeral Service is caring for Dale’s family and his arrangements. Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.
Dale Retallic, 72, of Atlantic, Iowa, was welcomed into his Heavenly Home, Sunday, February 22, 2026, at home.
Dale LeRoy was born on July 3, 1953, in Atlantic, Iowa, the son of LeRoy Beekmann and Barbara Maxine (Watson) Retallic. At a young age he started with his dad in the family business, Retallic Shelling. He often told the story of the time a neighbor had a crib fire and they raced over to get the corn shelled; his job was to toss the smoking ears of corn before they entered the sheller. Dale attended Atlantic Community Schools and was active in high school wrestling, football (undefeated one season with him playing guard, even though he was faster than the running back), and threw shot put and ran the 100-yard dash for the track team. Following graduation, he chose to attend Westmar College in Lemars, Iowa, because they allowed athletes to dual sport. He was on the wrestling team and secured his spot as the outside linebacker prior to the season starting his freshman year. There is quite a story regarding the chance to throw the shot put for the track team that almost resulted in him throwing shot put for Westmar, but a dishonest teacher/coach burned him so he called up his dad and told him to come get him. On his way off campus, the Athletic Director stopped him to find out what was going on and then fired that teacher/coach. Dale then transferred to the University of Northern Iowa to finish his education. With only a semester of eligibility left he didn’t play sports but was a very proud member of the intermural wrestling team that beat the Varsity UNI team. Dale graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and had various minors; his hard work and Purebred Hereford Cattle on the farm paying for his education.
After dating Mary Ballou from Exira, the couple married and were blessed with daughter, Whitney.
Out of college, Dale student taught and coached at East Waterloo. To say it was a tough crowd was an understatement but no one seemed to mess with him after he stepped in to break up a knife fight. He later taught, coached and was a drivers’ ed instructor in LeGrande before taking a position as a Farm Bureau Field Rep. in Des Moines.
Throughout college and later in his work life, Dale was dedicated to returning home on weekends to help his dad on what is now a Heritage Farm (named in 2019), something he was extremely proud of with all the ups and downs farming threw at him. One weekend the regular morning chores took a different route and led to a conversation Dale wasn’t expecting; his dad took him to the bank where he was essentially told, “The farm has $120,000 of debt. You come home and take over the farm or the bank is foreclosing.” So he quit his job with Farm Bureau and came home. What came after was years of hard work and dedication to that homestead and farm.
On August 10, 1984, he was united in marriage to Vickie Jean Weppler at the Lewis United Congregational Church. While Dale was substituting, coaching and teaching PE at AHS, he met Vickie the first time at a student council ice cream social. A few months later they ran into each other again at Atlantic Fest and the rest is history. The couple worked alongside each other and were blessed with 41 years of marriage and two sons, Justin and Troy. Dale always got a good chuckle that he finally met his dream woman who could beat him 2 out of 3 wrestling matches. They worked side by side on the farm (and with her help, had that farm debt paid off by the time his mother passed), officiating sporting events, and playing co-ed volleyball, slow pitch softball, and on a bowling league.
In retirement, they were always on the go as a pair, visiting friends in Des Moines and Council Bluffs and also rarely missed an event the grandchildren were in.
In addition, to his row crops, hog and cattle operations he worked for Sears, Schuler Manufacturing, Brocker Karns and Karns, Farmers Insurance (where he was in charge of the agents in western Iowa), did carpentry work and snow removal, taught Drivers’ Education and was an assistant football coach for several years in Atlantic.
Dale was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Atlantic where he held various positions on the board and was a member of the praise team and the choir. He was also a member of the Atlantic Elks Lodge No.445, which he became more active in later on. Dale was also on the board with Farm Bureau. Dale was a huge supporter of the local 4-H program and Cass County Fair, serving as 4-H leader and Rabbit Superintendent. He looked forward to attending the Iowa State and Clay County Fairs. Vickie and Dale also started a pinochle card club that met monthly for years, up until COVID.
Dale loved auctions, for the social aspect as well as where he found tools, anything that was selling cheap and adding to his bald eagle collection, many of which showed his love for his country with the American Flag.
A cause near and dear to Dale was Atlantic wrestling. Not only did he volunteer his time running clock for matches with Kelly Davis, but they also started the Little Trojan Wrestling Program.
Dale’s children will always treasure that he never missed one of their activities and for teaching them a tough lesson he didn’t learn until his own Dad was dying . . . that you need to make sure the people you love are told. After this, he never missed a chance to tell his family he loved them!
In the days ahead, Dale’s family will find comfort in the coin he carried in his pocket with Isaiah 40:31… “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.” His family made him so proud and the joy they brought him was immeasurable. He will be deeply missed by his wife, Vickie Retallic; daughter, Whitney (Erica Labb) Retallic; sons, Justin (Callie) Retallic and Troy (Laura) Retallic; grandchildren, Kaya Labb-Retallic, David, Sophia, Ethan and Colton Retallic, and Ava Retallic; siblings, Barb (Lowell) Reams and Marcella (Howard) Henderson; brothers and sisters-in-law, Susan (Norm) Hoeck and Julie (Craig) Gussow, Kenneth (Heather Link) Weppler and Kirk (Suzan) Weppler; and many nieces, nephews and extended family.
He is preceded in death by his parents, LeRoy and Maxine Watson; parents-in-Law, John and Marcella Weppler; granddaughter, Frances Labb-Retallic, and niece, Shelli Pintore-Bennett.
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