Steven Wayne Dean passed from this life on November 14th, 2020 at the age of 71 after a six-month battle with cancer. His loving wife Beverly was by his side.
He was born in Creston, Iowa on March 4th, 1949, the oldest child of Wanda and Bill Dean. He grew up in Griswold, Iowa with his parents and little sister, Cis. He graduated from Griswold High School in 1967. On May 25th, 1974 he married the woman of his dreams, Beverly King in Atlantic, Iowa.
He and mom lived in Le Claire, Greenfield, and New Hampton, Iowa—starting their family with two kids and making great friends along the way. They made what was expected to be a brief stop in Newton, Iowa, had another son and ended up there for 34 years. Over the years, Mom and Dad turned down several opportunities to relocate to Kansas City, but always turned it down for us kids. You can imagine them being a bit taken aback when all of us kids fled Iowa for Kansas City immediately after graduation. In August of 2018 we convinced them to join us in Kansas City to be near us, the grandkids, and BBQ! Despite the move, there is no doubt he considered himself an Iowan ‘til the end.
Dad had the best smile, loved his family and his dog, Alli, who preceded him in death in July. He loved tradition, family history, and traveling with friends. He loved sports and played baseball in his youth commenting “there was no better gloveman than me, but speed was not my friend.” He cheered on both the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones and would tell us “we should all be proud to hail from a state with two great universities.” He also loved the Green Bay Packers and the St. Louis Cardinals. It pained him when his daughter Lindsey married a die-hard Cubs fan. He could often be found on the sidelines and was proud to watch his kids and grandkids play football, golf, baseball, basketball, and cheer. He was a craftsman like his father and passed this on to his kids. He loved to build things and collect tools. He was often sentimental about them because of the stories, person, or history of which it reminded him. One more thing about Dad’s tools and “things”…Mom and Dad had a great union— but it was at times a source of marital strife when she would decide to clean the garage and take things to the curb—only to find that they he brought them right back in or to his “secret” storage unit.
Dad worked in the telecom industry his entire career, starting as a lineman and working his way through many positions and more telecom companies than could be counted during the telecom boom and bust of the 1980s and ‘90s. He retired as an Engineer from Windstream in 2017. He loved the people and took much pride in his work with colleagues over those years; however, his true passion was cooking. He was famous for his amazing recipes which ranged from soups to wings to his famous oatmeal pie with homemade cinnamon ice cream. He spent free time researching, testing, changing, and handwriting recipes for his recipe book. Dad loved warehouse shopping and held dual memberships at Costco and Sam’s Club so he could make sure to have his cabinets fully stocked for his next great dish.
In 2012 he took his passion on the road, launching the family BBQ team, Skunk River BBQ. He loved talking BBQ and carried a picture of his Jambo smoker with him so he could trade stories with anyone who shared his passion. Together, Dad, Jeff, Andrew and often Uncle Darrell, traveled the country to over 75 BBQ competitions, enjoying much success including coveted awards at the American Royal BBQ Invitational in 2018 and 2019. He loved nothing more than a “call” (award) at a BBQ competition. He was so proud of their team and while he would likely deflect the title to the boys, he was and will always be our Head Pitmaster.
Steve was preceded in death by his loving parents, Arthur William (Bill) and Wanda Dean. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Beverly (King) Dean, children; Lindsey (Ryan) McDonald, Jeff Dean, Andrew (Scottie Ann) Dean, grandchildren; Madeline and Andrew McDonald, all of Kansas City and sister Cis (Randy) Bates of Griswold and many other loving family and friends.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers you use your time to share a recipe, cook a meal with family, or take your dog for a walk. If you feel compelled to do more, donate to the Kansas City BBQ Society Foundation or Operation BBQ Relief. He was proud of the work they did recently to offer relief after the derecho in Iowa. We know both groups would be worthy stewards of any donations sent their way in honor of our dad.
A Memorial Visitation will be held at Rieken Duhn Funeral Home on Saturday, November 21, 2020 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. A Private Family Interment will be held in the Griswold Cemetery. Rieken Funeral Home in Griswold is Assisting the family with arrangements.
