Wendell Frederick Dalton
Born on April 10, 1941 in Ogdensburg, New YorkPassed on October 17, 2025 in Melbourne, Florida
Wendell Frederick Dalton
Wendell F. Dalton, 84, was born on April 10, 1941 in Ogdensburg, New York to Herbert and Dorothy (Pruner) Dalton and passed away on October 17, 2025 in Melbourne, Florida.
During most of his childhood he was raised by his grandparents on a farm. He had to get up early and take care of the farm animals before going to school. Milking the cows was one of his morning tasks. He told a story of a cow standing on his foot, he punched it to try and get the cow to move, the cow however, did not move but he broke his hand. He loved animals! Whether it was a cat, dog or cow it didn’t matter he loved and cared for them. His animals were treated better than some people. Before going to high school, he attended a one room schoolhouse. He loved to say that he had to walk to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways. In high school he played both basketball and football. Wendell joined the Air Force after graduating high school. He was stationed in the Bahamas and Alaska and served in Vietnam. While stationed in the Bahamas he learned how to fly and scuba dive. His love for basketball also continued while in the Air Force, as he continued to play and held the record for the most free throws. While in the Air Force, he met the love of his life Judy Dalton. She was from Massachusetts and he was from New York. They settled in Melbourne Florida where he worked on the Apollo Missions at NASA and his wife was a registered nurse. Ironically both Wendell and his brother married nurses named Judy.
After getting out of the Air Force, he worked for Tandy Corporation that later became Radio Shack. Wendell managed stores all over Brevard County. He enjoyed working on electronics. He had the patience and steady hand of a surgeon. If a store needed to be opened or turned around, he was always the man for the job. Wendell loved his job and was a great salesman. He was the manager for over 45 years and retired a few years after losing his wife in March of 2014.
Wendell loved to show German Shepards. His favorite dog was named John Adams of Tim Tam. He won many awards while showing him in competitions.
Until the day he passed, when giving advice about sports he always said, “stick to the basics.” We continue to use his advice today. Through the years, he ran several 5K’s and 10K’s including running the Gasparilla in Tampa Florida two times, where his goal was never to win, just to finish! He enjoyed watching MMA and boxing. He loved to tell jokes and tease people. That’s how you knew that Wendell liked you. He had a dry sense of humor and loved telling and being told silly dad jokes. Wendell was also a collector of things, especially yellow kitty litter buckets. They could be seen around the yard when you passed the house. He used them for table legs, seats, planters, to store things in, but the real question is what didn’t he use them for. He loved his kitty litter buckets.
Wendell loved to go to dinner with his wife Judy and family. They were regulars and all the waiters and waitresses knew them. It’s a good thing because he thought he was so funny and loved to tease them. Whenever they would ask him how he liked his coffee he would say, black and thick, basically so your spoon would stand up on its own. Or if he asked for pepsi to drink and they said is coke okay he would say no, pepsi. Whenever it came time to leave a tip he would spend so much time folding the bills into different shapes so it would take them a long time to open them. We would tease him and tell him they are here to work not to see the Wendell comedy show.
Wendell was extremely picky. We learned quickly that you did not want to go shopping with him because we knew it would be an all-day affair. He would drive to every store in town, comparing prices and quality and chances were he wouldn’t make a final decision that day. Whenever he started a project, you would think it would never be finished because it would be spread from one side of the house to the other. He wanted everything to be perfect before he put it back together.
Wendell also did archery for many years. He belonged to the Nova Archery Club out of Wickham Park in the 70’s. He was left-handed and won several competitions, once winning the Turkey shoot bringing home a Turkey after winning first place.
Wendell is survived by his children, Mike Dalton, Pat (Christi) Dalton and Kelly (Paul) Friel; brother, Richard (Judy) Dalton; grandchildren, Ryan Dalton, Amanda Dalton, Cheyne Dalton, Zaine Dalton, Hunter Dalton, Matthew Friel, Kaitlyn Friel and Kiana Dalton and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of over 40 years Judith Anne Dalton; father, Herbert Dalton; mother and stepfather Dorothy and Earl Aldrich; sister Linda Smithers.
