James Neil DeDear, age 94, of Georgetown, passed away on September 3, 2022. Mr. DeDear was born on July 23, 1928 in Round Rock to his parents, the late Claud DeDear and Florence Lee DeDear. Mr. DeDear grew up helping his father with his dairy and cattle ranch. After graduating from Georgetown High School in 1945 he attended Nixon-Clay Commercial College and then enrolled at Texas A&M where he enlisted in the Air Force on September 29, 1948.
On March 3, 1949 Neil married his childhood friend Laura Jean Pearson in the Round Rock Methodist Church where they grew up worshiping together. Mr. and Mrs. DeDear lived 27 years on military bases in the Philippines, England, Wyoming, Texas, Mississippi, New Jersey and Florida. Chief Master Sergeant DeDear was a highly trained Radar Technician/Maintenance Supervisor and was a Vietnam veteran. He was awarded the Air Force Commendation medal, the Bronze Star Medal and the Vietnamese Medal of Honor for meritorious service. He retired from the Air Force on June 30, 1975, earned his master’s degree in education from Southwest Texas University, and dedicated his next 16 years as an electronics teacher at Round Rock High School.
James Neil DeDear is survived by his daughter Cynthia Jean Johnson of Atlanta, Georgia, his daughter and son-in-law, Debra and Henry Ray of Georgetown; and his daughter and son-in-law Pattye and Mark Hagens of Shiner; and six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents and his beloved wife of 69 years. The family requests that memorials for Neil DeDear be sent to St. John’s United Methodist Church in Georgetown where he and his late wife joined in 1975.
