Cape mourns JROTC teacher's loss

One of Cape High's beloved teachers has suffered a recent loss of his own.

Lt. Col. Ronald Erale, head of the school's Army JROTC, has been on leave since a Valentine's Day skiing accident took the life of his daughter, Angela.

Angela Erale, 33, was a U.S. Army captain for the 24th Press Camp at Fort Bliss when she and her fiancé, Kevin Wellendorf, took a ski vacation to the Santa Fe Ski Basin. According to published reports at the time of the accident, Angela died after she lost control while skiing an advanced slope and struck a tree.

Since then, Cape JROTC instructor First Sgt. Philip R. Webb said Erale has been back and forth from Texas working out details for her memorial services. A memorial service was held March 4 at Fort Bliss, and Angela will be interred at Arlington Cemetery Wednesday, June 3.

Webb said Erale is grateful to the Cape community for all the support and condolences he has received.

“Keep Col. Erale and his wife in your memory. It's been very difficult,” Webb said during a recent school board meeting in which district officials expressed sympathy for Erale's loss.

Superintendent Robert Fulton said Erale is a great asset to the district for all the work he does with JROTC.

“I can't say enough about what the group of students means to the community,” he said.

During the March 4 memorial, Angela's commander, Lt. Col. Ryan Dillon, shared his memories of Angela and the great work she did overseeing a staff of Army reporters.

“I wanted her to hunt down stories from across Fort Bliss, so her soldiers could keep their skills sharp. A wall of articles began to fill up the entryway of our work area,” he said. “Angela was a caring and competent leader and always reliable.”

Dillon said her soldiers loved her and she will be sorely missed.

“We are all the more richer for having known her,” he said.

Before arriving at Fort Bliss, Angela had served in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and deployed to Bagdad in 2008 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

For her efforts over the years, she was awarded two Bronze Star Medals, a Meritorious Service Medal, three Army Commendation Medals, an Army Achievement Medal, two Meritorious Unit Commendations, a National Defense Service Medal, two Afghanistan Campaign Medals, a Iraq Campaign Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Angela was well on her way for promotion before her death and was promoted posthumously to major, Dillon said.

“That says a lot about her,” he said. “She was awesome to work with.”

Webb said the Cape community has responded with an endowment fund created in Angela's name. He said so far about $2,100 has been donated toward a scholarship fund for Cape grads. The goal is to create a fund that will provide scholarship funding over the next 10 to 15 years, he said.

Anyone interested in donating can write a check to Cape Henlopen JROTC and note that it is for Major Angela Marie Erale Scholarship fund, Webb said.