Richard Jay Dean

Richard Jay Dean (Dad) passed away peacefully at home on May 15th, 2026. He was born on February 2, 1930, in the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is preceded in death by his parents, Albert Edward Dean and Mary Tavoian, his older sister Dallas Featherstone (Connie), and three of his children, Curtis, Tracy Trujillo (Carl) and Jason. His father and mother were both immigrants from Great Britain and Armenia respectively making Dad a first-generation American citizen.

Dad initially lived in Woodruff, Utah for two years before moving to Draper in 1932. Dad grew up in Draper during the depression of the 1930s on a poultry farm. Growing up, he lived in a one-bedroom house that was heated by a wood burning stove. He said his mom and dad slept in the bedroom, his sisters in the family room and he and his brothers slept on the porch. Dad said they lit their home at night by kerosene lamps until he was 12 years old. At that time electricity became available.

His humble growing-up years had a profound impact on his life and instilled in him the value of hard work and self-reliance. On their poultry farm they had approximately 5,000 laying hens which laid about 3,000 eggs a day. The work was very intense especially in regard to cleaning the eggs to take to market. One day Dad saw a machine marketed for sale in a Sears and Roebuck catalog that would automatically clean the eggs. Using nothing but this picture he was able to build the machine himself which alleviated hours of work.

He attended the Draper Park Elementary School and Junior High School where he played the coronet in the Draper Junior High Band. He attended Jordan High School where he ran track and was active as the yearbook photographer his senior year. He loved being the photographer and took pictures of the entire school, teachers, social clubs and athletic teams. He knew everybody in the school. In reviewing the names from his HS yearbook just a few years ago he recognized the individuals and could tell you something about almost all of the graduates his age.

As a young man, Dad had an intense interest in the Boy Scouts of America. He loved the Boy Scouts and earned his Eagle award with three palms. In total he earned over 40 merit badges as a Boy Scout which was an incredible achievement. His dedication to scouting continued throughout his whole life. In 1968 he was recognized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 25 years of dedicated service to the church scouting program. After graduating from Jordan High School in 1948, he attended the University of Utah and graduated in 1952 earning a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in zoology. He worked multiple jobs during this time in college to pay for his schooling such as making donuts and working at the White Chapel Mortuary in Salt Lake City where he frequently slept overnight as opposed to traveling home after work.

After graduating from college, he was accepted into the medical school at the University of Utah but was drafted into the army soon after graduation. He served his basic training in San Luis Obispo in California. Because of a broken arm he suffered as a young boy he was deemed unfit for combat duty in Korea and instead served as an army dental assistant in the Lettermen hospital in San Francisco, California. He was honorably discharged from the US Army in 1954.

As a result of Dad's service in the Army, he became interested in the field of dentistry and applied to and was accepted into the dental program for the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco which is now known as the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. While in Dental school Dad worked two jobs to put himself through school as a janitor at the Laguna Honda Home at night and during the day at an automotive garage/car dealership. He was proud of the fact that when he graduated from Dental school in 1958, he had no debt and a new car (1956 Pontiac Star Chief hard top).

While attending dental school in San Francisco Dad met Mom (Janice Kimball) at a MIA dance in the San Francisco Ward. Mom said that for her it was love at first site. They courted for three months after which they were engaged. They were married on August 16, 1956, by Spencer W. Kimball in the Salt Lake City Temple and lived in San Francisco until Dad graduated from Dental School in 1958.

After graduation Mom and Dad moved to Merced, California where he established his dental practice. He practiced dentistry for 18 years until his "retirement" in 1976. During their time in California Dad and Mom had 7 children; Kendall, Laura, Curtis, Tracy, Michael, Jason, and Marvin.

While in Merced, Dad decided to move out of the town limits of Merced into the country. He built a beautiful home on Bellevue Road which was featured as one of the most beautiful homes in Merced County at the time. He also became interested in flying and obtained his pilot's license. He bought a plane that he nicknamed "Lu Lu Bell" and built an airstrip on the property he owned next to his house including a full airplane hangar, windsock, and gasoline pumping station. From then on, it seemed that everywhere we went as a family we flew. Dad made flights from Merced to Mexico City and also flew to San Antonio for the 1968 World's fair. He flew everywhere; Grand Canyon, Utah, Vacaville, California (Nut Tree Restaurant), and many places in between. He loved to fly and logged over 4,500 hours in the air---which is more than some commercial pilots. In his spare time, he served as a voluntary "Deputy Sheriff" for the Aero (flight) Squadron of Merced County and also along with his oldest son, Kendall, managed a cattle herd on his ranch of over 80 head of cattle.

Dad's retirement was never really a normal retirement. He just simply moved on to other things that he wanted to do. After moving to Provo, Dad decided he wanted to be a realtor and sell property, so he obtained his realtor's license. His knowledge of construction and building homes helped him immensely in this area to be successful. After that, he decided he wanted to work in a brokerage firm. He completed the necessary training and certification exams and became a licensed stockbroker. As such, he worked for Dean Witter Reynolds for several years in Provo as an Account Executive. He also sat on the Board of Directors for several smaller start-up companies.

Dad was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to fish and frequently would take the family to Yellowstone on camping trips. We caught more fish than we could eat sometimes. He also loved to hunt with his dad and brothers in Utah. He loved to deep-sea fish off the coasts of Hawaii, Canada, Oregon, and California. He once caught the biggest marlin off the entire Hawaiian coast one year. The marlin weighed nearly 800 pounds and took three hours to land. In addition, he rafted the Colorado river twice during the spring run-off season. Not for the feint hearted to be sure.

Dad loved his family time. He would plan a major family vacation every year. We traveled as a family everywhere including Canada, the eastern seaboard, Alaska, New Mexico, Lake Powell, Yellowstone, and southern California. These trips were extremely fun. Dad had purchased one of the first motorhomes built in the mid 1960s by Dodge corporation and he took the family everywhere.

Dad never had much time for hobbies; however, he loved western movies. He said he had watched all the western movies you could watch. Two of his favorite western shows were "Bonanza" and "The Rifleman". He also loved to wear western clothing. At one time, he had quite a collection of cowboy hats and boots.

During the mid-1970s Dad decided he wanted to build a car. He ordered a GT Bradley sports car kit and built the car himself. All of Dad's work as an auto mechanic in his growing-up years proved very useful in this endeavor. The car had a deep blue silver metallic flake finish and gulf-wing doors. It was a beautiful car.

While in Provo he built his second home in the Oak Hills area. This house was completed in 1983 and was a very modern home replete with many modern-day conveniences for its time. Later he decided he wanted to have a log cabin in the mountains, so he purchased a lot in Brickerhaven at Sundance ski resort. He, along with his younger sons, son-in-law (Asa) and friends built a beautiful log cabin which the family enjoyed for many years. He became the president of the Brickerhaven Community and served in this capacity for at least a year improving the roads and stabilizing the water source for the community. Although Dad wasn't much of a sports enthusiast, he also served as president/commissioner for several years of the Provo Little League Association.

Mom and Dad traveled extensively during his life. The places are too numerous to mention but some of the main ones are; Russia, Baltic States, Egypt, Greece, Israel, New Zealand, China, Mexico, Venezuela, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Hong Kong.

In regard to his church service, Dad was a faithful member to the end of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In 1995 Dad and Mom served a mission to the Lithuania, Vilnius Mission which included Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, and a small part of Russia. Dad had to learn enough of approximately 3 languages to get around. He would love to talk to you in Russian.

Dad served in the Provo Temple for 9 years as a temple worker. He also served in countless capacities in the stakes and wards he lived in including Bishop, Stake High Council, Stake Sunday School Presidency, Bishopric counselor, Elder's Quorum President, High Priest Group Leader, etc. He was ordained as a seventy in the church and maintained the 70s bookstore out of his home in Merced, California. He loved serving as a stake missionary in the Fresno, California Stake.

Dad was a rare man, (almost one-of-a kind) with a zest for life evidenced by his many achievements. He loved his family more than anything else in life and he expressed his gratitude and love for his family and friends regularly. He is survived by his children Kendall (LaRae), Laura Young (Asa), Michael (Rebecca), and Marvin (Tabrina), 17 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren, as well as his siblings Wayne (Maureen), June Clyde, and George (Michelle). Dad will be greatly missed but we all know with certainty we will see him again. We love you Dad!

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, May 22nd, 2026 at 11 a.m. at the Nelson Family Mortuary in Provo. Interment will be in the Provo City Cemetery.