Cover photo for Dale J. Birmingham, Sr.'s Obituary
Dale J. Birmingham, Sr. Profile Photo
1949 Dale 2015

Dale J. Birmingham, Sr.

May 11, 1949 — March 24, 2015

D.H. Lawrence once wrote, “I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.”
On March 24th 2015, after a lifetime of adventure and artistry, Dale Birmingham won his five years-long bout with cancer. Although convention would regard his passing a loss, those who knew him best can rest assured that however heart-wrenching his absence is, his valiant struggle could only have ended in victory. He never felt sorry for himself. It wasn’t in his nature. Dale Birmingham was a wild thing.
Born on the 11th of May, 1949 to his parents, the late Charles and Edith, Dale was indoctrinated into a heartily agrarian lifestyle. Therein, he learned a love for the growth and nurturing of plants, a love which would become an under-current to Dale’s complex and multi-faceted persona. This love of nature branched out into every aspect of Dale’s life. Aside from masterfully growing green things, Dale was an avid outdoorsman. If he wasn’t hunting, fishing, canoeing or climbing, then he’d most likely be out walking in the woods somewhere, and blend in as he was one with nature. He was at home in the wild. He was the man Thoreau meant to be when he said, “I went to the woods to live deliberately.” Dale was a deliberate man. His deliberateness lent well to his passion for building, of which there was never any shortage of evidence. Dale built beautiful things for his family and friends; he even turned his skills into a vocation when he started building professionally with his brother Laurence, his partner in Birmingham Brothers. His skills were seemingly limitless. Lapidary was a fantastical sideline that he enjoyed. He could cut and polish the stones as well as tell you everything about each stone. He was also known to make beautiful stained glass and could often be found masterfully sketching and painting vivid likenesses and artistic interpretations of the world he saw. Dale’s loved ones often remarked that he was a jack of all trades and a master of many. Dale was a student of life, like so many geniuses of renown who came before him; he kept experience as his master.
And this experience was never lacking in Dale’s life - you’d be hard pressed to find someone who’d met him and did not have a story or two to share about their time with Dale. With his skills and stories brought to bear, Dale might appear larger than life, but listening to him you wouldn’t know it. He was often thoughtful and quiet. He never wasted words. There’s an old proverb which reads: the hunting lion doesn’t roar. In essence, the phrase asserts that a hunting lion is resolute, determined and focused. It’s self-assured and confident; it has a mission. The hunting lion doesn’t need to make a spectacle of itself. Dale Birmingham was all that and more.
Even so, Dale was a spectacle without even trying to be. On most occasions Dale spent his time quietly, but if there was ever a party then you could be sure that Dale was the life of it. After all - he hung his hat on saying, "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. "
He wore pink with more gusto and gallantry than most men could and his love of dancing was well-known across New England.
Though he needn’t ever roar, he was very often associated with roaring laughter. If Dale’s loved ones associated him most closely with one sound, then it was the sound of laughter. Whether he was making others laugh, telling jokes or belting out his own characteristic cackle, he was never frugal with his comedy. For that and for everything he was, Dale was well-loved. If the measure of a man is the amount of love he brings to life added to the love he leaves behind when he passes on, then Dale Birmingham lived a life which most men only dream of achieving. After being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 60, Dale faced a long road full of pain and suffering which would have broken most men, but he never complained. He never roared. He only gave of himself to his friends and family.
Even in his last moments, Dale used his final breaths to acknowledge each loved one gathered around him. He gave his final moments to us as if we were the ones who’d come to him for comfort. In truth, we were. He didn’t have time to feel sorry for himself. He was too busy taking care of us.
On March 24th 2015 Dale Birmingham won his fight against cancer. He is survived by his amazing wife of twenty-nine years, Nina (Sammartino); his wonderful sons, Alex, Dale and wife Adrienne, James Ferraza and wife Meghan; his four beautiful grandchildren, Cole, Haley, Elaina and Arianna; also, Dales' siblings Charles and Laurence Birmingham , and Lorraine Leveseque; his fifteen loving nieces and nephews, ten great nieces and nephews and countless adoring friends.
Dale will be forever remembered as a builder, a nurturer, an artist, a joker, a lover, a warrior, a dancer, a deep thinker and a lover of God’s green earth. He will be remembered most fondly, though, for his quiet strength and stalwart resolve. He was full of love and without self-pity. He was, above all else, our Dale, our wild thing.
Visitation will be held Saturday Morning, April 4, 2015 from 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. at the MACERONI FUNERAL HOME, 1381 Smith St., North Providence followed by a Requiem Eucharist at 11 a.m. at St. David’s on-the-Hill Episcopal Church, 200 Meshanticut Valley Parkway, Cranston. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in Dale’s memory may be made to Home & Hospice Care of RI, 1085 North Main St., Providence, RI 02904.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Dale J. Birmingham, Sr., please visit our flower store.

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Visitation

Saturday, April 4, 2015

8:00 - 10:00 am (Eastern time)

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Burial Will Be Private

Maceroni Funeral Home & Cremation Services

RI

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