Dalia Messick graduated from Hobart High School in 1926 (at age 20), changed her first name to Dale, and created the "Brenda Starr" comic strip, and died in 2005 just days before her 99th birthday.

Her extended obituary appears in the New York Times on this website: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950CE4DB173EF93BA35757C0A9639C8B63. This Ainsworth blog also has lots of information, including several examples of her artwork, and references to other articles: http://ainsworthindiana.blogspot.com/search/label/Messick.

This page shows Dalia's senior picture from the 1926 yearbook, along with two of the many pages she illustrated for the yearbook.

OBITUARY INFORMATION FROM FIND-A-GRAVE WEBSITE:

Dalia “Dale” Messick
BIRTH          11 Apr 1906, South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana, USA
DEATH          5 Apr 2005 (aged 98), Penngrove, Sonoma County, California, USA
BURIAL         Burial Details Unknown
MEMORIAL ID    10735375

Cartoonist. Born Dalia Messic in Southbend, Indiana, she started her career in comics in the mid-1920s. She is remembered for her creation "Brenda Starr, Reporter," which became her biggest success. Based on Rita Hayworth, this comic book became a film in 1989, starring by Brooke Shields. She retired in 1980. She received the National Cartoonist Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

This information and the pictures below were obtained from: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10735375/dalia-messick.