Bill and Char Dale introduced the Flathead Valley to a new alternative for elder care 14 years ago when they opened Prestige Assisted Living in Kalispell, the area’s first assisted-living center.

It was a rather new concept of care that had emerged in the 1990s as an option for people who need some level of assistance but don’t require the round-the clock care of a nursing home.

The beauty of assisted living, the Dales agree, is the independence and dignity it allows residents of such centers.

“You get more control of your world,” Char said.

The Dales found their calling in the assisted-living business, and went about setting the standard for such care as they established Prestige Assisted Living. Char was executive director and Bill served as business administrator.

Later, they were invited to be partners in the Riverside Senior Living project in Whitefish, where they worked with Mark Johnson, Peter Tracy, Ron Holliday and other partners to develop and build that center. The Dales stayed on to manage the Whitefish facility for several years until it was sold to Oregon-based The Springs Living in 2007.

At that point the Bigfork couple settled into retirement, traveling extensively through Europe and other places. But two years ago they jumped back into the assisted-living arena as plans began to solidify for an assisted-living center near Bigfork.

“I was bored with retirement,” Bill admitted. “We love what we do” in working with assisted living.

“This is so much fun,” he added.

In September the county gave final approval for Rising Mountains Assisted Living, planned on a rural site near Pope John Paul II Catholic Church. It will accommodate 28 residents, with an expansion component to boost the number of residents eventually to 36.

Once again, the Dales will be at the helm of managing the facility.

Bill will be the general contractor for the project and Char will put her caregiving skills to work once it opens. Construction could begin yet this year, with an expected opening date sometime next spring or summer.

“It will be nice to be in Bigfork because we know a lot of people and it’s an opportunity to be more attached to our community,” Bill said.

With meeting space for 100 people at Rising Mountains, the Dales expect the facility to be a place where community events also will take place.

Char said there have been a number of inquiries about the forthcoming center in Bigfork, and there’s already a waiting list.

Char brought a wealth of experience in end-of-life care with her when the couple relocated to the Flathead Valley in the 1990s. She was the director of a long-term care facility in Fort Collins, Colo., when she became interested in hospice care and spent 15 years in hospice, directing hospice centers in Fort Collins; Kirkland, Wash.; and Missoula.

Caring for others has been a part of Char’s life from early on.

“When I was 16 I was in the hospital to have my appendix removed,” she said. “I was so impressed with the way people cared for me.”

That caregiving encouraged her to become a registered nurse and get a degree in health administration.

“I’ve done every kind of nursing you can do,” she said.

Bill, her husband of 35 years, is among her biggest fans.

“Char has given her whole life to helping people,” he said proudly. “She’s an angel disguised as a human being. She’s nationally recognized for her work.”

The two met while Bill was attending Colorado State University, where he earned a degree in construction management.

They bought land along the Swan River in 1986, with the idea of eventually moving to the Flathead. Bill was born and raised in Great Falls and had spent time here as a boy. Char, a Wisconsin native, said the Bigfork area immediately felt like home.

The assisted-living philosophy matched Char’s approach to hospice care, she said, in that the person being cared for is in charge of the situation.

“It’s their life, not mine,” she said.

Change is not easy for people as they transition to assisted-living care. Char’s approach is to ask each person: “What do you want to have happen?”

Bill said he likes the independence that’s preserved in the assisted-living model of care. By having caretakers help with the things residents need help with, it frees them to be more in control of their world.

“The residents who come into the assisted-living community are vital, energetic, successful people; they want to get as much out of life as they can,” he said. “These seniors are the greatest depositories of life and history. It’s fascinating to share those years with them, listening to the histories and success stories. “

Char was able to move her father to the Whitefish assisted-living center when they worked there.

“It was wonderful having that time with him,” she said. “I got to know my dad again. Assisted living is a chance for families to be reunited.”

As the Dales get the staff assembled for Rising Mountains Assisted Living, they’ll be looking for employees whose beliefs about caregiving match their own philosophies of putting the residents and their needs first.

“We’re not the bosses,” Bill said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.