Roger A. Dean, 88, born April 22, 1924 died Dec. 16, 2012 and Margaret M. (McPhee) Dean, 88, born Nov. 11, 1924 died Jan. 25, 2013.
Roger was from Grand Rapids, and Margie was from Dearborn, Mich. Roger, a Navy pilot, had flown Grumman Hellcats in the Pacific in WWII, while Margie worked as a secretary before the end of the war. They were married on Dec. 29, 1945 and resided in East Lansing, Mich., for several years while Roger attended Michigan State University on the GI Bill, graduating in Business Administration. Their first two children were born there. Upon graduation, they moved to Detroit, Mich., where their final two children were born. In 1958, the family moved to Livonia, Mich., where they spent the next 10 years and were active in school and community affairs. A move in 1967 to Pittsburg, Pa. was followed 3 years later by a move to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Roger and Margie set up a fund-raising company called LiteAmerica.! This was a fulfilling time, the business did well and Margie's interest in art intensified and she became a docent at the Cincinnati Art Museum and at the Taft House Museum. Roger and Margie also built upon their many years of travel, kids in tow, throughout the US, by traveling extensively during this time, around the world from Europe to Africa to Asia, often in the company of good friends. In 1997, Roger and Margie retired to Fairhope, a warm, friendly, artsy place in the genteel South, where Roger took up painting and Margie joined numerous discussion and social groups. Then in 2010 they came north again, to the Meridian Retirement Community, to join their daughters in Boulder, Colo., constantly surprised in their final 3 years by the beautiful sun and relatively warm temperatures of the high West. They are missed by their four children, Nancy, Roger Jr., Craig, Robin; six grandchildren, Arwen & Max, Sarah & Kate, Jennifer & Brian; and two great-grandchildren, Chase and Demoze, but the family also celebrates 2 long, peripatetic lives. They died within 6 weeks of each other and will be interred in a private ceremony this summer in Michigan, bringing their lives full circle. Remembrances and condolences to Robin at rkasty@gmail.com. Private family ceremony in Michigan.
