Walter Dean

Walter B. Dean, 87, of Hendersonville, NC, died Wednesday morning, May 14, 2008 at the Elizabeth House after a courageous battle with cancer.

Born June 3, 1920, he was the son of the late Vassie Caraway Dean and the Reverend Walter G. Dean, who was a Baptist preacher and school principal in Houston and Geneva Counties in Florida and Calhoun County, AL for many years. He was also preceded in death by two brothers, O.T. and Morris; his sister, Opal; and his grandson, Blake.

A veteran of World War II, Walter volunteered for the Army Air Corps in 1942. After radio school, he was shipped to England and assigned to Air Support Party with the 1st Army, V Corps Artillery, Hdq. Battery. On D-Day, June 6, 1943, while watching from the deck of an LST in waters off the Coast of Normandy, Sgt. Dean witnessed the Allied invasion at Omaha Beach. After landing on D-Day plus 1, he saw horrible spectacles of death and destruction everywhere. For years afterwards, those sights reappeared in his mind. Following closely behind Infantry lines with the artillery through France, Belgium and into Germany, Dean participated in the Normandy Air Offensive in the Europe, Ardennes, Rhineland, Northern France, and Central Europe campaigns.

Walter was a devoted member of Hendersonville First Baptist Church and the Truth Seekers Sunday School class. He was a real estate broker both in Hendersonville and West Palm Beach, FL.

He is survived by his loving wife of 25 years, Phyllis Davis Dean; three sons, Larry Dean and wife, Nancy; Bill J. Dean and wife, Brenda, all of Marianna, FL; and Greg Dean and wife, Wanda, of Gardendale, AL; three stepsons, Barry Davis and wife, Sue, of Marietta, GA; Robert Davis and wife, Tina, of Palm City, FL; and Michael Davis and wife, Margo, of Roswell, GA; twelve grandchildren; and eleven great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 2 PM Saturday, May 17, 2008 in the Kirby Memorial Chapel of Shuler Funeral Home. Military Rites will be conducted by Hubert M. Smith American Legion Post 77, Hedrick-Rhodes Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5206, and Disabled American Veterans Chapter 14. The Reverend Kenneth “Skip” Fendley will officiate. Burial will be at 10 AM Monday, May 19, 2008 at Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Black Mountain, NC.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Hendersonville First Baptist Church Youth Building, 312 5th Avenue West, Hendersonville, NC 28739, or to Four Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care, 571 S. Allen Road, Flat Rock, NC 28731.