A warrior passed from among us late on Thursday evening, May 26th. Major William Robert Dean, US Army Ret. died at North Alabama Medical Center after a brief illness. He was born on August 8, 1935. He was graduate of Coffee High School.
Bill Dean’s life was one of dedication and service: service to his Lord, his family, the United States of America and his countless students. He served Killen Church of Christ as a deacon, helping initiate a prison ministry that has taught Bible classes in area prisons for years,
Bill was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army after graduation from Florence State Teachers College.
Following a tour of duty in Korea, and two tours in Vietnam, Bill crowned his military career as a Ranger with a stint of teaching military science at Eastern Tennessee State. While in the Special Forces, among many awards and medals, he earned the Expert Infantry Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Senior Parachute Badge and the Bronze Star. Retiring in 1972 Bill returned to his hometown of Killen to begin a career of 30 plus years of service in public education, teaching geography and history at Brooks High School. He added to his BS in education and history at the University of North Alabama and his masters degree from Eastern Tennessee State University, by taking a sabbatical year at the University of Alabama to study school administration.
Bill was a true scholar who reveled in reading, study, and travel. He taught Bible lessons in the Pacific Rim. He studied boat construction in New England, attaining his captain’s license in sailing after taking many groups of students on sailing expeditions in the Caribbean. He preached for a number of years at Five Points Church of Christ.
Bill Dean was the son of the late Fred and Val Dean of Killen. His grandparents were the late John and Carrie Muse and the late Charlie Mac and Martha Wesson Dean. Bill and his wife Marilyn Campbell Dean married in 1959. They had three children: Dorian Dean Irby who predeceased her parents, Daphne Stafford and her husband Charles, and Robert Dean and his wife, Kimberly McWilliams Dean. Additionally, they had two grandchildren, Stephanie Cochran and husband Matt, and Chase Stafford and wife Addie. Charles Roland Stafford is a great grandchild with Cole Cochran being a much-anticipated great grandson
After his family, Bill Dean’s great loves were his fellow Christians, his period of military service, and his history students at Brooks School. He has spent the last several years as a Bible teacher and an in-depth researcher in church history, always eager to share all that he learned.
Services for Bill Dean will be at the Killen Church of Christ on Sunday May 29th at 2:00. Visitation for friends will precede the service at Killen on Sunday at 1:00. Interment will be in the Tri Cities Memorial Gardens on Sunday. Williams Funeral Home will be directing. Pallbearers are Craig Brooks, Brad Brooks, Joe Quillen, Chase Stafford, Jerry Mitchell and Doyle McDonald. Honorary bearers are Harold Paine and Jerry Dean.
