Michael Fred Dean

Some days you were our mechanic.
Most days you were our voice of reason (what would daddy do).
But every day you were the best dad we could have ever hoped for! Thanks for always being there no matter what we needed!

Happy Birthday Dad!
We know you’re up there enjoying not having to work today, donuts for breakfast , & a big piece of ice cream cake. Love you 🩵

There’s so much I could say about Dad, so many things that I’ll miss and so many things that will always make me smile through the tears, but I will probably remember Dad being an instigator with the most amusement. Dad really enjoyed getting a rise out of me. He knew exactly how to do it and never missed an opportunity. Poor Bradley was a little shocked the first time he saw Dad and I go at it and how hard we hit each other. But Dad liked to remind us that “love hurts” in the form of curling my t-shirt sleeves in knots, kicking me off the sofa, banging elbows on the kitchen table, and anything else that would drive me crazy. And in the middle of being obnoxious, he liked to tell me, “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.” He was right, I knew he was right, but my response was always that he was going to miss me and I sort of prepared for that, for him to miss me. I work at a nursing home and we talk about advance directives and last wishes on a regular basis so about 5 years ago, I started keeping a note in my phone for the ones I might leave behind if it was my turn to go, and I thought it might be appropriate to read my words to Dad because they sound pretty similar to what he might say to me right now.
“Dudley, I worry about you the most and for good reason! You won’t reach out to grieve with anyone and you need to. You don’t have to be stoic and strong for everyone, although I learned from the best. I love you Daddy, so let them take care of you sometimes for my sake. Take time for yourself, don’t hide it to make others feel better. Our “special relationship” was slightly strange, very sarcastic at times and fit us perfectly! I know it was rocky at times, but the reason it hurt was because we love each other so much, we expected so much from each other and it was hard to believe the other person could make a mistake. I am grateful to have you for a dad, to show me how to keep a house clean (although never as clean as yours), to teach us to accept the consequences to our actions, to teach us that “love hurts,” to let me be myself and take my own path, to be my sounding board and best friend, and to show us what it means to put others first. We didn’t say “I love you” often, but we had our own way of showing it. I always believed that you were Superman, you will always be on a pedestal. Stop eating junk, 2 words. Your Pugs”
Dad had lots of names for us (Brad likes to call it a Dean trait for everyone to have 10 nicknames including our pets). I was Pugs, TayTay, and many others, but he also liked to call me his “secre-Terri.” He enjoyed giving me things to do, sometimes just to drive me crazy. As one of my last “Secre-Terri” tasks, I want to share a poem that Dad sent to me back in February one night when we were on the phone. He said that I could read it when he was gone and not be so sad. I want to share it with all of you now, mostly because Dad basically told me to and I like to believe I listened to him most of the time.

Missing you so much, Mike. These pictures popped up in my memories today from The 2013 Graduation party here at the house. These type of photos is how my heart will always remember you. Smiling and laughing because you were “silently” plotting your next move and usually instigating someone else to carry it out for you! Miss you cousin!

A Message About My Dad

Mike's Funeral Service