By By Adam Prestridge
Thanksgiving Day was tragic for the family of a local business owner.
Linda Theon Colbert Dale, owner of Theon's Place, a small restaurant on Hwy. 21 near Huxford, was killed just after midnight in a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 65 south of Stockton on Nov. 24.
"She was a very outgoing person," former employee at Theon's Place, Michelle Caraway of McCullough, said. "She was always fun to be around and always happy. She would do anything to help anybody. She was a very sweet person."
Dale, 35, of Atmore, was driving a 2001 Ford Expedition North on the interstate at approximately 12:20 a.m. Thanksgiving morning when she lost control of the vehicle and flipped it over onto the roadway. According to a report issued by the Alabama State Troopers Office, Dale was not wearing her seatbelt and was found partially hanging out of her vehicle. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
"It was a shock when I heard she was killed," Caraway said. "Nobody wanted to believe it."
Dale owned Theon's Place for about year and had a lot of repeat customers that said she had some of the best food around
"Just about everybody that ate there was a regular," Caraway said.
According to Caraway, Theon's Place offered a variety of lunch specials, hamburgers, chilidogs, steaks and "great" seafood.
"Friday and Saturday nights you would have to wait in line to get a table," Caraway said.
As for being a boss, Caraway said Dale was wonderful.
"She was real easy to get a long with," she said. "I never had any trouble with her. You never had to ask for a day off, she would always let you off. She was easy to work with."
Dale graduated from J.U. Blacksher High School and attended nursing school at Bishop State Community College.
Dale was laid to rest Sunday with a graveside service at Semirah Springs Cemetery in Uriah. Her parents, Cullen B. Colbert and Dottie Woods Colbert, preceded her in death.
She is survived by her husband, Randy Dale of Daphne; sons, Michael Dustin Boone of Lottie and Bobby Deon Knight and Scotty Bryant Knight, both of Atmore; brothers, Robbie Bryant Colbert of Perdido, George Marion Colbert of Uriah and Kevin Michael Colbert of Lottie and sister, Glenda Faye Colbert of Atmore.