Bernice Caroline Dean

Born in Eerie, North Dakota, which is 45 miles west of Fargo, Bernice Caroline Amb spent her first five years living in various places including Canada, Chicago, and North Dakota. She attended Grade School in North Dakota, Junior High in Climax, Minnesota, and graduated High School in 1939 in Crookston, Minnesota. Bernice attended Concordia College and Business College. She worked at the County Courthouse in Crookston and moved in July 1943 with her parents to the Seattle area.

Bernice met Clifford Dean while living in Crookston. Cliff was from Iowa and he and his brother would work at the Amb farm. After WWII, Bernice Amb married Clifford Dean on June 29, 1946 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood, Washington. Cliff and his brothers built their first house in Edmonds, Washington.

Bernice worked for the US Army Corp of Engineers, Seaboard Lumber, and Shoreline School District Administrative Offices in Seattle. They had three children, Cheryl, Larry, and Allyn. Bernice raised her children, plus took on babysitting other children in their home. Bernice and Cliff lived in Edmonds until 1994 when they moved to Richmond Beach. Cliff passed away in December 2005. Bernice continued living there until 2019 when she moved to Fairwinds Retirement in Lynnwood, Washington.

Bernice loved baking, sewing, quilting, and creating driftwood sculptures, which she did up until the age of 98. Cliff and Bernice camped, fished, and traveled together. For their 50th Anniversary, they flew to Cabo, Mexico, took the Northwest Dinner Train with family, drove to Crater Lake, and flew to Fairbanks to see the Arctic Circle – all in one year. Bernice’s family has longevity with her father living to be 100, and her sister Helen living to be just short of 102.

This amazing lady lived every day with love for all and she will be greatly missed. She passed peacefully on December 3, 2023 and is now with her family in Heaven.

A funeral for Bernice will be held Saturday, December 9, 2023 at 11:00 AM at Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills Funeral Home, 409 Filbert Road, Lynnwood, Washington.