Glendale Native Dave Walley Passes Away at 87

After a full life of impassioned humanitarian efforts, world travel and an impressive career in the construction industry, Glendale native Dave Walley passed away November 1 after three years with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 87.

The 1948 Hoover High School graduate was inspired by humanitarian and patriotic causes. At 18, he volunteered for a Swiss-based organization that helped implement the rebuilding of European communities destroyed during World War II. With the Initiative for Change, a precursor of the Peace Corps, he worked nine years as a stage manager for a traveling musical performance troupe that conveyed hopeful and meaningful messages for war victims.

Starting in 1965, Dave was a stage manager with Up With People, which broke down cultural barriers through inspirational musical performances and volunteering. Dave, who was fluent in Spanish, traveled mostly in Central and South America for four years with his wife and first son.

After resettling the family in Glendale in 1969, Dave became a licensed contractor and started a 30-year career with Dinwiddie Construction, today known as Hathaway Dinwiddie. He was safety director for the company’s Southern California division and oversaw safety operations during the construction of the Getty Villa art museum in Malibu and later the larger Getty Museum in Brentwood.

Aside from his family, Dave was deeply committed to the Boy Scouts of America and was a scoutmaster with Troop 121. He remained lifelong friends with many of the Eagle Scouts he mentored. Dave was a master gardener, grew prize-winning chrysanthemums, and was a respected leader with the Descanso Chrysanthemum Society of La Canada-Flintridge and Descanso Gardens.

Dave, a lifelong member of the Congregational Church of Glendale, moved with Ellen to Novato, just north of San Francisco, to be closer to one of their sons. He is survived by Ellen Walley, his wife of 51 years; son Thomas Walley of Glendale; son Robert Walley (wife Stephanie) of Novato, CA; and grandchildren Jacob, Lyla and Luke. A memorial service is being planned for spring 2018. The family requests that friends of Dave perform an act of kindness in his memory or support the Boy Scouts, a garden club, an Alzheimer’s facility or a hospice care group.