Dale Pendergrass, 67, died peacefully on August 3 at his home on North 19th Avenue. He arrived in Bozeman in 1994 with a U-Haul and a job at the MSU physical plant, and he never left. He liked to say he bought his house for “what a normal person pays,” a figure that now covers roughly half a down payment.

He walked the M Trail most mornings before his shift, back when you could count the other hikers on one hand. He watched the condo towers rise where the hay field used to be, and he watched his daughter Sarah move to Belgrade because the math stopped mathing. He didn’t mind the growth, exactly. He just wished the traffic moved faster so he could complain about it properly.

Dale retired in 2021 and spent his afternoons at the Co-op bulk bins, comparing lentil prices like they were stock options. He voted for every bond measure and against every zoning variance, sometimes in the same election. His pickup truck had 340,000 miles and a bumper sticker from a gubernatorial race nobody remembers.

He is survived by his daughter Sarah, and his son Mike of Belgrade. A gathering will be held at Bridger Memorial Chapel at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 16.