Long, Dale Donald

Dale Donald Long, 71, of Blacksburg, died peacefully at his home surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, June 17, 2006.

Born January 30, 1935, in Louisa, Va., to the late Hill Conway and Myrtle Dixon Long, he was pre-deceased by five brothers and three sisters.

He is survived by his wife, Lou Rich Long, of Blacksburg; son, Donald Dixon Long, daughter-in-law, Valerie Wagner Long and grandsons, Davis Dale Long and Landon Robert Long, of Charlottesville, Va.; son, Douglas Harold Long, grandson, Wilson Rich Long, and Wil’s mother, Elaine Bell Long, of Atlanta, Ga.; sisters, Mildred L. Powell of Fredericksburg, Va., and Maxine L. Minchew of Marietta, Ga.; and brothers, Norman R. Long of New York, N.Y., and Ralph D. Long and his wife Ann of Louisa, Va.

He earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering and MS in Physics from Virginia Tech and his PhD in Physics from Florida State University, where he met Lou, his wife of almost 41 years. His life of service included 34 years teaching physics at Virginia Tech where he was honored in 1991 with the William E. Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching and in 2000 as Professor Emeritus of Physics upon his retirement.

Since 1954, he was an active member of Blacksburg Baptist Church, where he founded the Hearts and Hammers Ministry combining his passions for aiding those less fortunate and performing light construction home improvement projects.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be given to the Hearts and Hammers Ministry at Blacksburg Baptist Church or the Alice Estes Martin Scholarship at Virginia Tech (supporting excellence in high school physics instruction).

The family will receive friends at McCoy Funeral Home from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, June 19, 2006. A celebration of his life will be held at Blacksburg Baptist Church at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 with Dr. Tommy McDearis, Dr. Don McKinney and Dr. Roland Byrd officiating. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Drive, Blacksburg.