Leslie Dale, 'Mr. Memphis,' remembered for his love of the Bluff City

Leslie Dale, a longtime telephone executive and tireless Bluff City booster whose activism on behalf of such institutions as St. Jude and the Liberty Bowl earned him the unofficial title "Mr. Memphis," has died.

Dale, 94, died June 3 in Memphis, where he lived for most of his adult life.

Born in Goodlettsville near Nashville, Leslie Staley Dale attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (where he played on the basketball team), Middle Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University before coming to Memphis and joining Southern Bell in 1956. By the time he retired as Western District manager after 38 years, the telephone company was known as South Central Bell (now BellSouth).

For much of his career, Dale was manager of corporate and external affairs with the company, which made him a familiar presence to newspaper readers and television newscast viewers.

Although his job with the Bell system at times required him to relocate to Nashville, Knoxville, Clarksville and Oak Ridge, he was such an enthusiastic champion of Memphis that some family members and friends began to refer to him as "Mr. Memphis."

He was a two-time chairman of the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce and a two-time president of Future Memphis. He headed United Way of the Mid-South fundraising campaigns, and was president of the 1992 Liberty Bowl. He was a longtime board member with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

“During his tenure as chairman of the Chamber’s board, Leslie Dale was a key figure in the movement to make Memphis known across the nation and the world as ‘America’s Distribution Center,’" said Amy Daniels, Greater Memphis Chamber senior vice president.

"That campaign has borne tremendous fruit, helping Memphis become the global logistics leader it is today. He was committed to the Chamber and its mission, rarely missing a board meeting. His passing is a loss for the Chamber, the business community and all of Memphis.”

As a delegate with the Memphis in May International Festival, Dale traveled with festival representatives to the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Russia and China.

Jim Holt, president of Memphis in May, said Dale will "be deeply missed."

"He was a great civic supporter in Memphis," Holt said. "I had just seen him three weeks ago at our barbecue contest, he judged the contest every year. He was slowing down, I believe he was on a scooter device, but that didn't stop him from coming out to celebrate Memphis in May."

Holt knew Dale for more than two decades and said the "sweetheart" of a man was "in love with Memphis."

"He always had a smile on his face," he said. "He wanted to see everything in the city do well, prosper and be successful, and that's what I'll miss — seeing his smiling face."

Dale was a 40-year member of the Rotary Club of Memphis. At various times, he served on the boards of Rhodes College,  LeMoyne-Owen College, Christian Brothers University, the Church Health Center, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the Memphis Symphony, to name a few.

His numerous awards included the Communicator of the Year Award from the Public Relations Society and the first Kate Gooch Award for Community Leadership from Leadership Memphis.

An Air Force veteran of the Korean War, Dale also was an avid golfer and even a soap box derby race enthusiast as a youth; one of his vintage "soap box" cars is on display at the Edge Motor Museum on Marshall Avenue.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Germantown United Methodist Church, with visitation at 1 p.m.  A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville. Memphis Funeral Home has charge.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Leslie Dale dies: 'Mr. Memphis' remembered for love of the Bluff City