Jack Ernest Dean

While the Tall Ships were gathering on Lake Erie over the weekend, Jack Dean set sail for the great beyond. He slipped out quietly Sunday August 25th after a long conversation with his eldest son reflecting on his life.

Jack was always on a mission, and he brought great enthusiasm and an upbeat attitude to everything he did. He had an enormous willingness to engage in life. There wasn't any hesitation about whether he could or should do something - he saw what to do and he jumped on it.

The long list of his affiliations reflects many of his interests: history, sailing, preservation of historic and cultural landmarks, service through Rotary, Inventors Club, and more, but what he really loved were people. Everywhere he went, he built community. He engaged and encouraged people to jump in - both by example and persuasion. He knew he could do it, and by extension, he knew you could, too.

Born September 5, 1921, Jack Earnest Dean lived almost a century, and participated in so many changes in the arc of his long full life. As a child he went to a one room schoolhouse, and in the last decade of his life he was emailing and writing a book on his computer.  He was a voracious learner and graduated from high school at age 15. He was always exploring new things. He became a pilot with his own plane in the 1950’s, wrote a newspaper column in his eighties, and went to yoga classes in his nineties. At age 94, he joined the Lake shore Center for the Arts and acted in his first play.

Jack married Virginia Wareham Dean in 1943 and they bought a 100-acre dairy farm, but his entrepreneurial mind led him to start 12 businesses including one that was chosen for the prestigious “Inc 500 List” by Inc Magazine. Jack and four other men started Peek’n Peak Ski Resort in upstate New York.

He loved historic ships and was a core member of the National Maritime Sea History Organization. He crewed on the Sea lion on Lake Chautauqua for 7 years and crewed another 7 years on the 400-ton Brig Niagara on Lake Erie. He was legendary for climbing aloft the 100’ mast to help unfurl the heavy sails when he was in his 70’s. He sailed on the Niagara to NYC joining other “tall ships” and watched the US Bicentennial fireworks celebration the in NY Harbor.

As a historian, he enjoyed giving talks on local history, and was active in the Findley Lake Historical Society, Yorkers, Chautauqua County Historical Society, and helped to found the Western NY Landmark Society.

Jack seemed to know everyone and made friends everywhere he went. He moved to Sebring, Florida three years ago, and his persistent spirit for connecting and participating in life brought him many new friends as he joined Historical Society, Sons of the American Revolution, the Episcopal Church, and the Celtic American Society.

Jack has four children: James Dean Sebring, Florida, Connie Mariah Dean Charlottesville, Virginia, granddaughter Laura (Joe) with 3 children (Ella, Julia, Ryan), Christiann Dean Ithaca, New York with two children (Galen, Forest), Michael Dean (Debra Jean) of Casper, Wyoming, and granddaughter Amelia (who predeceased her grandfather). His brother Ed Dean died 10 days before him (age 96); his sister Dorothy Dean Hall died in 2018 and sister Verna Mason in 2016. He was the son of Gertrude Vidal White and Ernest Dean. After Ernest died when Jack was 4, his mother remarried, and he inherited a new father in Lee White (Judge. farmer, poet) who was very influential in Jack’s life.

Jack’s mind was strong to the end, and he was fond of quoting his great grandfather on aging: “The good Lord is gently letting me down the decline of life without violating any of the laws of Nature.”

May we all live so fully.

Arrangements entrusted to:

Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home

4001 Sebring Parkway

Sebring, FL 33870

Online condolences may be left at:

www.stephensonnelsonfh.com