Joseph Eugene Dean

Joseph Eugene Dean of Island Heights, NJ died suddenly from a heart attack on Friday, July 1, 2005. He was 76. Born March 30, 1929 in Philadelphia, PA, he was the son of the late, Lillian F. Hoopes and Henry E. Dean. He attended Upper Darby High School in Philadelphia and graduated from Toms River High School in New Jersey in 1947. He served in the US Air Force for two years. In 1950, he married Myrtle Isabel Peoples and they made their home in Island Heights, where their son Joseph was born. Joe’s career for the US Navy began in the Naval Airship Program, Lakehurst, as an erection mechanic, continued at the Naval Air Test Facility in Engineering until he received a job offer for down range facilities engineering at the aerospace program, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. The family moved to Cocoa Beach, but after two years, Island Heights drew them back to New Jersey where Joe continued in the Facilities Engineering field for the FAA at Pomona, before retiring in 1987 from the Air Engineering Center, Lakehurst. Joe fully enjoyed his work establishing shipboard compatibility requirements for aircraft support equipment to be installed on the Navy’s newest aircraft carriers and on carriers undergoing modernization. Joe’s love of sailing originated as a youngster when he crewed for his brother, Ernie, in Snipes in the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association and as a young man he competed at the national level in Lightnings and in the Flying Dutchman racers. He and his wife were BBYRA Sanderling Champions and he competed in the M Scow class also. Partnering with Richard Power, they sailed their catboat “Myth” many happy days on Barnegat Bay and out the inlet. Joe and Myrtle “retired” to auxiliary sailing in their Tartan 37 often cruising the intra-coastal waterway to Florida and the Bahamas for the winter. Joe also was an accomplished artist in oils with a particular interest in waterscapes and sailboats and he also designed two of their Island Heights homes. Joe was a member of the Island Heights and Toms River Yacht Clubs and the Island Heights Artists Guild and the First United Methodist Church of Island Heights. He also served on the Island Heights School Board and the IHYC Board of Governors. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, Joseph W. Dean of Chester, MD; three brothers, Henry Ernest Dean, Jr. of Island Heights, NJ, Albert Lynn Dean of Toms River, NJ and Thomas Frederick Dean of Waitsfield, Vt. He was predeceased by his half sister, Dorothy Dean, Pompano Beach, Florida. Memorial services will be held 11:00 am July 15, 2005 at the First United Methodist Church, 115 Ocean Ave., Island Heights, NJ 08732. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations be made to the church or to the Mayo Foundation, Development, 4500 San Pablo Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32224 (please note that your gift is in memory of Joseph E. Dean and donations will be designated to the Mayo Transplant Center.