Dale Anne Tarantino passed away November 16, 2019, near family in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is survived by two older brothers and extended families.
Dale was born August 29, 1947 in Washington DC to parents Arthur and Jean Bonney. She spent most of her childhood in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1968, after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, she went into teaching fifth grade math, until accepting an inside sales rep job selling nuts, bolts, and screws in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1978 and after moving to California, Dale started working as a sales representative for Holo-Krome. One of her colleagues said, “Dale was always very easy to talk to and was one of the first technically trained sales people I’d met in the fastener industry. She taught me a lot about the engineering end of socket products, things that I remember and still utilize to this day. Our paths crossed many times through the years as I was her customer, competitor, and colleague.”
In 1985 Dale held the position of the western regional sales manager for Bossard International, until going into the rep business in the early 1990s. She was on the Los Angeles Fastener Association Board of Directors from 1997-2001, serving as president from 1998-2000.
Dale was instrumental in the creation of LAFA’s technical training programs for the fastener industry, which led to the creation of the Fastener Training Institute of today.
In 2011, she started her own agency as an independent factory representative and as an internal auditor to enable companies to prepare for ISO registration and performed internal auditing prior to ISO surveillance.
In December 2017 Dale moved to Wilmington, North Carolina to be closer to family. She retired from the fastener industry and spent a lot of time at the beach and enjoying her new home. In November 2019 she lost her long battle with cancer.
