Dalton inspired players, left lasting mark on community
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
If the measure of a man is the amount of love he sowed and respect he commanded, then Don Dalton’s legacy is so much more than that of a mere Hall of Fame football coach, according to Hans Block.
“As I was sending out messages to let some of his former players know that he had passed Monday, the word that kept coming back was love,” said Block, who played for and coached alongside Dalton at Burlington High School. “I can’t tell you how many times I heard the word love.”
Dalton, who had battled cancer and other medical conditions in recent years, died Monday morning in Wautoma where he had lived since retiring in 2001 as a celebrated coach and athletic director at BHS. He was 75.
“He was a very impactful person on me. He was my mentor,” Block said. “He had a real powerful and positive impact on hundreds and hundreds of people.”
“Everything that Don did was done well.”
That statement is evident in the long list of accomplishments Dalton compiled in his 37 years as an educator, coach and athletic director for the Burlington Area School District (see sidebar).
Ceremony planned
His family is planning a celebration of life for the man affectionately known as “coach” to generations of young athletes. The public memorial service will be held July 14 at 7 p.m. at the athletic stadium that bears his name on the BHS campus.
The location and the starting time – the usual kickoff time for high school football games – is no coincidence.
Dalton compiled a record of 202 wins, 57 losses and one tie as head football coach at Burlington. That record included 22 Southern Lakes Conference Championships and 12 trips to the WIAA state playoffs.
He was inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Hall of Fame, Burlington Athletic Wall of Fame, National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Hall of Fame. His plaques can be seen at both Camp Randall Stadium and Lambeau Field, according to his family.
The respect members of the education community had for Dalton are, perhaps, best illustrated by the fact that members of the School Board in 2014 agreed to change a longstanding policy not to name school district facilities after a person until they had been deceased for at least a decade.
The change in policy came at the behest of Block and a committee of former players who raised about $19,000 in Dalton’s name to erect signs at the school’s outdoor stadium honoring the former coach.
A humbled coach
In an interview with the Standard Press after the stadium was renamed in his honor, Dalton said he was humbled to realize the lives he had touched.
“I was taken back,” Dalton said. “You don’t realize at the time the value and importance of it. It’s not just me. It’s the program and all the kids that come back. It’s never one person. I have a soft spot in my heart for all the kids I’ve coached.”
About 100 former players from as far away as California and Texas as well as Dalton’s entire family were on hand for the stadium naming ceremony in late August of that year.
“I was very proud to see everyone,” Dalton said at the time. “You never know if you’re making a difference. That always makes you feel good.”
Block said Dalton developed a philosophy that everybody on the team – from the manager to the star quarterback – had an important role to play.
“He always saw the good in people, no matter what their role,” Block said.
Dalton explained that philosophy in his 2014 interview with the Standard Press:
“I put as much value on a backup as I do a starter. It didn’t matter where kids came from, we all had common goals. We always wanted to make the program a team-type atmosphere.”
For those who would be quick to dismiss Dalton as a football coach whose contributions were limited to the gridiron, Block pointed to his efforts to develop an athletic code for all athletes and to pioneer drug and alcohol resistance programs for students.
He was a driving force and founding member of the Partners taskforce, and anti-drug and alcohol education program developed for the Burlington Area School District.
“I can’t say enough good things about Don Dalton,” Block said.
For those who wish to offer memorials, Dalton’s family has suggested donations in his name to the Burlington High School Athletic Department, 400 McCanna Parkway, Burlington, WI 53105, or the Waushara County Habitat for Humanity, 345 S. Cambridge St., Wautoma, WI 54982.
A complete obituary appears elsewhere on this site.
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