Dallas Franklin Etchison

Dallas Franklin Etchison, 91, died on April 28, 2024 at his home in Avalon Village in Hampden, Maine nine days after the death of his beloved sweetheart of 65 years, Marilyn Cotton Etchison, 89. He was the son of Chandos Leon and Georgia Waymire Etchison. His brothers were Carl Leon and Lloyd Eugene Etchison.

He grew up farming and participating in 4-H. Known as the “Frankton Flash,” Dallas was a forward on the varsity basketball team at Frankton High School and played all four years. His yearbook states, “[Dallas] is a dependable player and is always doing his best.” He played baseball his sophomore, junior, and senior years. He participated in Talon Club, the Frankton Eagles’ lettermen organization, for four years and was president his senior year. He was vice-president of his class his freshman year, president his sophomore and junior years, and business manager his senior year. He was on the Judging Team his senior year.

After graduating from high school in 1950, Dallas attended Butler University where he played basketball as a walk-on and pledged the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Dallas was employed at Delco-Remy and also worked as a carpenter and in a variety of farm-related jobs. He was deployed on September 18, 1953 as a member of Company “B”, 70th Tank Battalion, First Cavalry Division, Ninth Corp Army Forces Far East, Far East Command, United States Army. His captain noted that he served his country with honor, stating, “Specialist Etchison performed his assigned duties and conducted himself at all times in a manner equal to the highest traditions of the military service.” During his deployment, Dallas held the position of company clerk and played basketball and baseball. He was stationed in Japan at the foot of Mt. Fuji.

Dallas married Marilyn in 1958. They purchased family farms in Tipton County and Jasper County from Evelyn Fisher Cotton, Marilyn’s mother. Dallas and Marilyn farmed together for 50 years. In 2003, they donated a portion of their Jasper County farm, near Wolcott, to help create the Fisher Oak Savanna Nature Preserve operated by NICHES Land Trust (nicheslandtrust.org/jasper-county/fisher-oak-savanna-nature-preserve). Dallas drove a school bus for the Tipton Community School system (Bus 16) while farming. Dallas and Marilyn built a house in Hampden, Maine in 2005, where they moved permanently in 2011.

Dallas served on the Tipton Community School Board of Trustees from 1977-1988. He was elected president of the Tipton School Board in 1980 and led the board during the expansion of the high school. Dallas was appointed to serve on the Tipton County Tax Board. He was elected president of the Tipton County Planning Commission in 1984. He was elected chairperson of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) Board in 1990, a board on which he had volunteered since 1966. He served on the Tipton County Board of Appeals in the 1990s. Dallas was a member of the Tetersburg Cemetery Board. He volunteered as a Sunday school teacher at the Normanda Christian Church.

Dallas is described by a nephew as demonstrating “quiet, resolved determination.” He was a fine mechanic and welder. He enjoyed vacationing in the mountains. He had a keen eye and collected many arrowheads while farming. He made apple cider and hosted many wiener roasts and hayrides for family and friends. Dallas was known for his generosity, sense of humor, big heart, and wise counsel. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather and a consistent provider. A person of integrity, he was loyal, honorable, honest, and self-effacing.

The family would like to thank the many caregivers and medical providers who have cared for Dallas over the years. Surviving are his daughters, Diana Prescott and Kathleen Etchison, along with Diana’s husband, David; daughters, Rachel, of Memphis, TN, Meredith, of Washington, DC, and Eleanor, of Orono, ME; Kathleen’s husband, Thomas Andahl; and children Connor and Marta, of Manassas, VA; along with many cousins, nephews and nieces.

Memorial contributions for a scholarship in the names of Dallas and Marilyn Etchison can be forwarded to the Tipton Community Foundation, 1020 W. Jefferson Street, Tipton, Indiana, 46072, or online at tiptoncf.org.

A celebration of Dallas and Marilyn’s lives will be held on October 19 at The Barn at Homestead Farm, 6733 West State Road 28 in Tipton, Indiana, and they will be buried together in the Tetersburg Cemetery.

Young-Nichols Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements. Condolences for Dallas’ family may be left on his obituary page at www.young-nichols.com.