• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Driving along Minnesota Avenue, Dale Weir looked to his wife, Dorothy, and asked what she wanted for Christmas. She pointed to the 60-foot evergreen tree outside her car window and said she wanted that -- but with lights and decorations.
• So Dale obliged. He found out who owned the land and bought it, then decorated the tree and gave it to Dorothy.
• That was 20 years ago. Today, the massive evergreen adorned annually since 1992 with thousands of lights stands as a Christmas symbol for Sioux Falls residents and visitors.
• For those who knew the Weirs, it also honors a husband and wife who donated countless hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city.
• "That tree symbolizes all the love they had," said Candy Hanson, president of the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, who knew the couple through their philanthropic work.
• "I don't believe she thought he would do it, but Dale would always rise to the challenge like that."
• For the first few years, the Weirs kept it a secret that they were the ones decorating the tree. Eventually, they died -- Dale most recently, in 2010 -- and left the property to a local church. He also created the Dale and Dorothy Weir Endowment of the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation to ensure the tradition continued.
• The Weirs' nephew, Bill Weir, said many people wouldn't suspect that the couple had lived such a comfortable life.
• The downstairs of their home was rented to a local teacher, and Dale Weir never drove a new car. The couple's few indulgences included eating out and shopping for antiques, said Bill Weir, 69, of Sisters, Ore.

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