#Joan Swartzell Dale

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SOUTH BEND, IN - Joan was born in South Bend, Indiana to Willard and Evelyn Swartzell. She was a graduate of Phoenix Junior College, Phoenix, Arizona and Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina. She was a missionary, along with her husband, Daniel T. Dale, to Japan for 34 years under The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM), Carol Stream, Illinois. In Japan, in addition to raising 5 children, Joan was active in university student evangelism and taught English Language in 2 universities. Along with her husband, her main work was that of a church planter. She was co-founder of the Gateway English Language Institute and taught there for 14 years. She also helped establish the Kobe Bible Church, Kobe, Japan. Upon retiring from missionary work in 1986, she and Daniel opened an antique business, Kotani, that was in the Oakwood area of Raleigh and specialized in Asian art, which they managed together for 10 years. Joan was an avid gamester and became a licensed pilot in her early 20s. She had a great sense of humor. She had an enormously courageous spirt demonstrated by her getting on a tramp steamer to Japan in 1952 for a thirty-day trip while pregnant with her second child. She was a great cook, a voracious reader, and had an uncanny knack to put anyone at ease and to make them feel included. She was also an active member of the First Baptist Church in downtown Raleigh until she was physically unable to attend regularly. Joan was pre-deceased by Daniel, her husband of 62 years. She is survived by son, David Timothy and wife Deborah; and grandsons, Matthew and wife Jenny of Greensboro, North Carolina, and Andrew of Raleigh, North Carolina; son, Daniel Thomas and wife Smruti of San Diego, California, and grandson, Nicholas of Singapore; son, John Andrew and wife Beverly and grandsons, Jordan and wife Amanda of Chicago, Illinois, Julian of Chicago, Illinois, and Jamison of Kansas City, Missouri; son, Peter Nathanial and wife Yuna and granddaughter Christianna of Tokyo, Japan; and daughter, Joanna Stephanie Polikaitis and husband John of Numazu, Japan, and granddaughter Rachel of Numazu, Japan, and grandson Alex of Los Angeles, California. In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to The Gateway Scholarship Fund, The Stony Brook School, Stony Brook, New York. The Dale family and friends established this endowed scholarship to aid children of missionaries and other Christian service workers, recognizing that “the Gateway of life is small, and the road is narrow, and few will find it…” (Matthew 7:14). Address: The Stony Brook School, Chapman Parkway, Stony Brook, NY 11790-1799; www.stonybrookschool.org. Condolences may be shared at CremationSocietyNC.com.Published in South Bend Tribune on Jan. 20, 2019.