Clinton Harper Dean Sr.

CLINTON H. DEAN passed away on March 14, 2012 peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Born May 28, 1928 in Sapulpa, OK to Hal E. and Esther Harper Dean, he moved to El Paso at the age of 1, in 1929, with his mom, dad and brother Hal Jr. (“Buster”). He grew up in Kern Place and began his education at Dudley Elementary School, then El Paso High where he became a State Champion Flute Player; he then attended the University of Texas at Austin were he was a member of the Sigma-Chi Fraternity, continuing at Texas College of Mines (now UTEP). Starting his path in life Clinton first went to work for the FBI then opened his first grocery store down on S. El Paso Street behind the KTSM TV station. He then expanded his business, and with his brother, opened Minute Market # 1 which grew into sixteen stores in the El Paso area. Over the years he went on to becoming a real estate developer, developing shopping centers (his first in 1957 at the corner of Stanton and Cincinnati), office buildings and warehouses. He was President of the Retail Grocers Association for 7 years, served as Director for the YMCA, member of Coronado Country Club, served on the Board of Tri-State Grocers Association, Board of First State Bank (in Five Points) for 30 years and was a proud member of Los Caballeros. After retiring, he became a Master Gardner and was honored by the King Dahlia Society of California, winning numerous first place awards for growing Dahlias; he was rewarded, by the King Dahlias Society, by having a Dahlia named “Mr. Dean” in his honor. During his years living in the Kern Place area, every Christmas he would start construction in his garage in September and build Christmas displays for all of El Paso to enjoy. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Virginia, three sons, Clinton, Jr. (Karon), Mike (Lorna) and Bobby (Beverly). He is also survived by grandchildren, great-grandchildren and step-grandchildren. The family would like to personally thank Dr. Branch Craig and Dr. Howard Pease for all their support over the years. Funeral Service will be held on Monday, March 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM at Western Hills United Methodist Church, 524 Thunderbird, El Paso, TX 79912. Serving as Pallbearers will be his three sons Clinton, Mike and Bobby, Chris Stanley, Patrick Dean, Rob Frost-Dean, Jeff Smith and Steve DeGroat. Serving as Honorary Pallbearers will be Los Caballeros. Interment will follow at Memory Gardens of the Valley, 4900 McNutt Rd, Santa Teresa, NM. Services entrusted to Martin Funeral Home West, 128 N. Resler Dr., El Paso, TX 79912. www.MartinFuneralHomeWest.com