Dallas E. “Dal” Western, 96, an Elmhurst resident who turned a lifelong interest in grains and plants into a 32-year career at Quaker Oats Co., died Thursday, July 29, of natural causes in a Sarasota, Fla., nursing home, family members said. Mr. Western was born on a grain and livestock farm near Creston, Iowa, said his daughter, Betty Steben. Mr. Western worked his way through Iowa State University and earned a degree in vocational agriculture in 1929. “He was a fireman so that he could have free lodging and washed dishes at a fraternity [house] for meals,” his daughter said. Mr. Western’s high school and college sweetheart, Irene Nickle, also graduated from Iowa State in 1929, and they got married in 1930. Having fond memories of the university, Mr. Western traveled back to Iowa State every 10 years for reunions, his daughter said. While working in Iowa, Mr. Western was recommended for a job at Quaker Oats’ Chicago headquarters. Mr. Western joined Quaker in 1939 as an agriculturist and moved his family to Elmhurst. Mr. Western became the director of grain development and agricultural relations in 1948. By 1967, Mr. Western was head of grain research and development, a position he held until his retirement in 1972. Mr. Western spent most of his free time tending to the Elmhurst home he built, where the yard contained 250 different types of shrubbery and flowering plants. After retiring, he and his wife moved to Sarasota. She died in 1983. While retired, Mr. Western was commissioned by the U.S. government to reclassify the world’s collection of oats, his daughter said. “He was the only man alive who could recognize every variety of oat by sight,” Steben said. In addition to his daughter, Mr. Western is also survived by his second wife, of 19 years, Ann Meade Western; his son, Dallas Jr.; nine grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in Steuerle Funeral Home, 350 S. Ardmore Ave., Villa Park.
