Dean R. Garrett

Dean R. Garrett, 92, of Freeport died Sunday, February 3, 2013 at Liberty Village of Freeport after a brief illness. He was surrounded by family and friends during his final days. He was born February 17, 1920 to Dewey W. Garrett and Ida M. (Huber) Garrett in the small town of Elma, Iowa. He and his wife of 67 years Georgia Hinton were married there on July 1, 1943 while he was on leave from the Navy. Dean graduated from business college in Mason City Iowa, completed his Bachelor degree in education at the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1951. A lifelong learner, Dean then received his Master'™s Degree in Counseling from Northern Illinois University in 1966. A 35 year veteran of the Freeport School District, Dean began his career in 1951 when he accepted his first teaching position at Freeport Senior High School. The first year he taught both speech and debate, then moved to the Freeport Junior High where he taught English, speech and drama classes and helped start the children'™s theater group in the school. In 1962 he moved into the FJHS counselor'™s post, became associate principal for one year and in 1968 became principal of the FJHS, a position he held for 15 years. His final years with the Freeport School District were as Superintendent of Instruction until his retirement at age 67 in 1987. He was a member of Kiwanis Golden K at the time of his death and had spent his career in Freeport serving on many boards and committees for the betterment of the community. He was particularly proud of the work he was able to do with the area Literacy Council. Dean is well known as a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 and was a frequent public speaker on the subject. He continued to serve as President of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association of Northern Illinois until the time of his death. On the morning of December 7, 1941 Dean was a young hospital corpsman assigned to the surgical unit of the hospital at Pearl Harbor. Later assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis he was involved in all major South sea battles until 1945. Dean and Georgia are remembered for their beautiful ballroom dancing. Many weekends were spent with friends dancing at every opportunity throughout northern Illinois and Wisconsin. They also traveled extensively in Europe, Mexico and the United states, including lengthy stays in Hawaii, Fort Meyers and South Padre Island where they golfed and socialized with many friends from Freeport. At age 90 Dean took the first of two trips to Ireland where he visited relatives in Castleblayney, County Monahan which is where his great grandmother had immigrated from in 1849. In later years Dean also discovered that his ancestors were among the first 100 families to settle in Freeport in 1845. Dean was the much loved patriarch of five generations of family living in the surrounding area. He is survived by one son Thomas (Nancy) Garrett of Janesville, Wi; two daughters, Patricia Clary of Freeport and Janet (Joe) Cerra of East Aurora, NY; grandchildren, Danielle (Bob) VenHuizen of Stockton, Emily Carroll of Mission Viejo, California, Clayton (Sharon) Garrett of Wanaka New Zealand, Patrick Cerra of East Aurora NY and Carly Cerra, Buffalo NY; great grandchildren Amanda Melvin of Shannon and Samuel VenHuizen of Stockton, Kyle (Abby) VenHuizen of Kenosha, WI; and great, great grandson and granddaughter Wyatt and Sawyer VenHuizen of Kenosha WI and nieces Joy (Stark) Weakland of Colorado and Ann (Foss) Geister of Minnesota and many great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife Georgia; his father and mother Dewey and Ida, and two sisters Geraldine Foss and Alice Stark. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 6 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. at Burke Tubbs Funeral home in Freeport. Rosary will proceed the visitation at 3:30. A funeral mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb 7, at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Msgr. Thomas Dzielak will officiate. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in Freeport. A memorial has been established in Dean'™s memory. Please sign the guestbook at www.burketubbs.com.