Dr. Harry Dalin, longtime St. Louis dentist, former Commander of Jewish War Veterans Post 644 and a former vice president of Congregation Shaare Emeth, died Friday, July 13, 2012. He was 88 and died in his sleep of natural causes at his Chesterfield home, family members said.  

 Dr. Dalin was born in St. Louis on Aug. 23, 1923, the son of Ben and Gitel Dalin.  He was a 1940 graduate of Soldan High School and received his undergraduate and D.D.S. degrees at St. Louis University.  He was the widower of Lillian Fiman Dalin, to whom he had been married for 66 years.  Mrs. Dalin died last year.

Dr. Dalin served in the U.S. Air Force at the Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.  He had the rank of captain and was a dentist with the Air Force Dental Corps. “He was a favorite of the officers there, treating their family members as well, and they prevented him from being transferred in order that he could keep serving there,” said Erin Guyer Schreiber, a granddaughter.

He was active in various professional dental organizations, including the Greater St. Louis Dental Society, the Missouri Dental Association and the American Dental Association. He also was a Fellow with the Academy of General Dentistry and was an associate member of the American Academy of Periodontology and the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity. He was in charge of continuing education for the St. Louis Dental Society for many years and was also a former co-chair of the Dentists Division of the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.

Dr. Dalin was active for many years at Congregation Shaare Emeth, of which he was a past vice president and former chair of its Adult Education Committee. He was a regular participant in the weekly Torah Class at Shaare Emeth.

In a eulogy, his granddaughter noted Dr. Dalin’s love of the book, “Tuesdays With Morrie,” by Mitch Albom, which chronicled the passing of a beloved Brandeis University professor and mentor to the author.  She said her grandfather often quoted the book, and even had one quote engraved on the cemetery headstone for his late wife: “Death ends a life, not a relationship.”  

Survivors include four children, Barbara (David) Furman; Gary (Debbie) Dalin; Debbie (Karl) Guyer and Jeffrey (Debbie) Dalin, 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held July 16 at Congregation Shaare Emeth, where Rabbi Emeritus Jeffrey Stiffman officiated.  Burial was at the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery on White Road.

The family requests memorial contributions to the St. Louis Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA), Campus Box 8111, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. 63110 (www.stlapada.org), or to Congregation Shaare Emeth, 11645 Ladue Road, St. Louis, Mo. 63141.