Lt. Col. John W. Dean, Ret.
3/2/1930-2/1/2022

Let me introduce you to my father. A very private man, not much of a socializer, but enjoyed a glass of wine with his friends and family and peaceful times on his back porch.

He was a faithful husband, wonderful father and devoted to his country.

Born in Los Angeles he had several interesting jobs ( lifeguard, merchant marine ) before settling into army life. After OCS he began flight school and became a helicopter pilot. He flew MedEvac and was part of the DUSTOFF Association. He was sent to Viet Nam and served there with distinguished honor – receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Silver Star and Bronze Star (these honors were never mentioned – we discovered this while cleaning the garage).

After a 24 year career, he and wife Carolyn decided to move the family to Corpus Christi. He became the administrator of the Ada Wilson Children's Hospital where he implemented many programs for its residents. Mr. Dean was known for wearing ties that some of the residents had made for him. From there the two of them traveled the world with stops in Saudi Arabia , Sri Lanka, the Middle East and many other exotic places while he was working as an administrator for overseas hospitals. They set out to see the world – and that is exactly what they did! Once that was accomplished, the US, with it's 50 states was next– and had numerous adventures- trailering across the country for months at a time. Once they reached their 80's – they finally decided that cruises were going to be their new form of travel. They enjoyed this so much that they achieved patron status and were often found having happy hour with the captain and crew. No adventure was to small –

Johns' children – Kevin Dean, Kristin Gavit and Kathy Dean (son in law Bill and daughter in law Sue) are forever grateful for instilling the love of the outdoors, hiking, camping and family times together  ( just don't get out a board game ) -