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Homer Ernest Dean Jr.

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Homer Ernest Dean Jr.

Birth
Kaufman, Kaufman County, Texas, USA
Death
18 Aug 2008 (aged 89)
Burial
Alice, Jim Wells County, Texas, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Homer E. Dean Jr., first Texas Bar Association General Practitioner of the Year passed away August 18, 2008, one month before his 90th birthday.
Born in Kaufman, Texas, Sept. 18, 1918 to Homer E. and Ivor Connell Dean, he was raised both on a farm and in town, where his mother, one of the few schoolteachers in the area, taught him in a two-room schoolhouse. He was both an athlete and an excellent student. Determined to follow in the footsteps of his uncle and become an attorney, Dean worked five jobs while attending Baylor University, where he received two degrees in five years.
He married Barbara Roberts of Little Rock and San Antonio, a cum laude Baylor graduate, in November 1941, and moved to Alice to begin his new law practice with Lloyd and Lloyd. Just over a month after their marriage, Dec. 7, 1941 changed everyone’s plans.
Enlisting in the Army after Pearl Harbor, he eventually was assigned to two military language institutes, studying Russian at NYU in New York City and Chinese at the University of California Berkeley to prepare him to work with municipal leaders in those countries, in case the war led us there. Using her skills as a writer and stenographer, Barbara followed him around the country, wherever he was posted.
After World War II, Dean remained in the Army Reserves, often working on special intelligence assignments and JAG issues, until his retirement as Lt. Colonel.
He and Barbara returned to Alice, where he continued his distinguished legal, political and civic career. He was elected and served as Jim Wells County Attorney from 1947 to 1949 and District Attorney from 1950 to 1952. He served during a seminal time in South Texas politics, prosecuting Mario Sapet, for the death of Buddy Floyd Jr., and working for LBJ as election chairman, Jim Wells County during the 1948 Senatorial election. Dean was both a student of and a witness to history during that period, being interviewed by Robert Caro and other biographers of Lyndon B. Johnson.
A long-term planner and civic visionary, Dean was responsible for Alice’s first recreational facilities and its National Guard Armory.
His talents were recognized early—the Junior Chamber of Commerce named him Outstanding Young Man of Alice in 1949. The Alice Chamber inducted him into its Hall of Honor in 1985, and in 1986, the Board of Realtors named him Citizen of the Year.
His was co-founder of Security Federal Savings & Loan Association in the early 1950s, which made low-cost home loans available to scores of returning GIs and their families
His longtime interest in water resources led to his decades-long service on the Area Council of Governments and his being one of the founders of the Alice Water Authority in 1962. He negotiated the first contract for water “in perpetuity” for Alice from Lake Corpus Christi and worked for decades to ensure that Choke Canyon Dam was built. The Alice Water Authority dedicated the Homer E. Dean Jr., Alice Water Plant to him in 1998 on his 80th birthday, in recognition of his more than 35 years of service.
During his long civic career, Dean was a member of the Kiwanis Club and the Masons. He helped organize the Alice Industrial Foundation and was a charter member of Jim Wells County Master Planning Association.
Dean was especially dedicated to his church, First Baptist, which celebrated its centennial in 2000, dedicated a historical marker, which honored Dean’s beloved mother, Ivor Connell Dean.
Mr. Dean’s erudition and extensive knowledge of the Bible made his Sunday School class one of the church’s most well attended for more than 30 years. He served as a deacon for more than four decades, frequently serving as chair, and was a frequent delegate to the Texas Baptist Convention.
He also worked for the church in other areas, serving on the board of South Texas Children’s Home in Beeville, Texas, for many years.
Dean was Board Certified by the Texas Bar Association in two fields, Estate and Probate and Oil and Gas Law, but he was also named General Practitioner of the Year by the State Bar Association in 1969, the first year that honor was bestowed. He later served as chairman of the Board of the State Bar and was a candidate for State Board President.
Dean argued cases before the Texas Supreme Court, numerous state and federal appellate courts and was admitted to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. During one Thanksgiving family prayer, he thanked God “for allowing him to be a lawyer–something he enjoyed so much he would have done it for free.” He retired from active practice in 2001 at the age of 83.
Homer Dean mentored numerous attorneys during his 65-year distinguished career, including his grandson, Burton Dean Brillhart of Dallas; his niece, Dean Corely Myane, Blanco County Attorney; Rufino Lopez of Laredo; District Attorney Buddy Shepherd of Cranfills Gap; Wayne Choate of San Antonio; and District Judge Jerry D. Ray, Palo Pinto County.
He and Barbara were world travelers, often taking their three daughters (and later including their spouses and children) on trips both around the U.S., Mexico and Canada, as well as several foreign countries. Until recently, he and Barbara continued to enjoy cruises to such destinations as China, Iceland and Russia.
Dean’s love of nature lasted his whole life and he always had a project to improve the land. Like the magnificent oaks he loved, Homer E. Dean Jr. was beloved for his strength, his steadfastness, his generosity and his sheltering arms for all who loved and depended on him.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Barbara Dean of Alice; daughter, Barbara (Bill) Dean Hendricks of San Antonio, daughter, Ruth (Don) Dean Brillhart of Alice; daughter, Grace Elizabeth “Becky” (John) Black of La Porte; six grandchildren, Burton (Amy) Dean Brillhart of Dallas, Robert Martin (Kim) Brillhart of Dallas, Katherine Lee Steele of San Antonio, Jack Calloway Steele of San Antonio, Elizabeth “Beth” (Brad) Shields of Austin, and William “Bill” Connell Black of Austin; three great-grandchildren, Annie Mitschke Brillhart, Peden Burton Brillhart and Calloway Thompson Steele; his sister, Mettie Dean Corley of Wimberley; niece, Dean Corley Myane of Blanco; nephew, Gen. John Donald Wesley Corley, USAF, Virginia; niece, Terry McClaugherty Josey of Waco; cousin, Jana Barr Brown of Houston; and their families.
The family thanks the many caregivers for their loving care and kindness throughout his illness.
Family visitation will be Thursday, August 21, 2008 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Dean residence, 900 Lincoln Drive, Alice.
A memorial celebration will be held Friday, August 22, 2008 at 5 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Alice, 501 E. Second Street. Ross Dudney will officiate.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the South Texas Children’s Home, P.O. Box 1210, Beeville, Texas, 78104.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Holmgreen Mortuary of Alice.

Posted in the Alice Echo News Journal, Alice, TX, Wednesday, August 20, 2008 12:00 am.
Updated: 4:26 pm, Fri Nov 18, 2011.
Homer E. Dean Jr., first Texas Bar Association General Practitioner of the Year passed away August 18, 2008, one month before his 90th birthday.
Born in Kaufman, Texas, Sept. 18, 1918 to Homer E. and Ivor Connell Dean, he was raised both on a farm and in town, where his mother, one of the few schoolteachers in the area, taught him in a two-room schoolhouse. He was both an athlete and an excellent student. Determined to follow in the footsteps of his uncle and become an attorney, Dean worked five jobs while attending Baylor University, where he received two degrees in five years.
He married Barbara Roberts of Little Rock and San Antonio, a cum laude Baylor graduate, in November 1941, and moved to Alice to begin his new law practice with Lloyd and Lloyd. Just over a month after their marriage, Dec. 7, 1941 changed everyone’s plans.
Enlisting in the Army after Pearl Harbor, he eventually was assigned to two military language institutes, studying Russian at NYU in New York City and Chinese at the University of California Berkeley to prepare him to work with municipal leaders in those countries, in case the war led us there. Using her skills as a writer and stenographer, Barbara followed him around the country, wherever he was posted.
After World War II, Dean remained in the Army Reserves, often working on special intelligence assignments and JAG issues, until his retirement as Lt. Colonel.
He and Barbara returned to Alice, where he continued his distinguished legal, political and civic career. He was elected and served as Jim Wells County Attorney from 1947 to 1949 and District Attorney from 1950 to 1952. He served during a seminal time in South Texas politics, prosecuting Mario Sapet, for the death of Buddy Floyd Jr., and working for LBJ as election chairman, Jim Wells County during the 1948 Senatorial election. Dean was both a student of and a witness to history during that period, being interviewed by Robert Caro and other biographers of Lyndon B. Johnson.
A long-term planner and civic visionary, Dean was responsible for Alice’s first recreational facilities and its National Guard Armory.
His talents were recognized early—the Junior Chamber of Commerce named him Outstanding Young Man of Alice in 1949. The Alice Chamber inducted him into its Hall of Honor in 1985, and in 1986, the Board of Realtors named him Citizen of the Year.
His was co-founder of Security Federal Savings & Loan Association in the early 1950s, which made low-cost home loans available to scores of returning GIs and their families
His longtime interest in water resources led to his decades-long service on the Area Council of Governments and his being one of the founders of the Alice Water Authority in 1962. He negotiated the first contract for water “in perpetuity” for Alice from Lake Corpus Christi and worked for decades to ensure that Choke Canyon Dam was built. The Alice Water Authority dedicated the Homer E. Dean Jr., Alice Water Plant to him in 1998 on his 80th birthday, in recognition of his more than 35 years of service.
During his long civic career, Dean was a member of the Kiwanis Club and the Masons. He helped organize the Alice Industrial Foundation and was a charter member of Jim Wells County Master Planning Association.
Dean was especially dedicated to his church, First Baptist, which celebrated its centennial in 2000, dedicated a historical marker, which honored Dean’s beloved mother, Ivor Connell Dean.
Mr. Dean’s erudition and extensive knowledge of the Bible made his Sunday School class one of the church’s most well attended for more than 30 years. He served as a deacon for more than four decades, frequently serving as chair, and was a frequent delegate to the Texas Baptist Convention.
He also worked for the church in other areas, serving on the board of South Texas Children’s Home in Beeville, Texas, for many years.
Dean was Board Certified by the Texas Bar Association in two fields, Estate and Probate and Oil and Gas Law, but he was also named General Practitioner of the Year by the State Bar Association in 1969, the first year that honor was bestowed. He later served as chairman of the Board of the State Bar and was a candidate for State Board President.
Dean argued cases before the Texas Supreme Court, numerous state and federal appellate courts and was admitted to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. During one Thanksgiving family prayer, he thanked God “for allowing him to be a lawyer–something he enjoyed so much he would have done it for free.” He retired from active practice in 2001 at the age of 83.
Homer Dean mentored numerous attorneys during his 65-year distinguished career, including his grandson, Burton Dean Brillhart of Dallas; his niece, Dean Corely Myane, Blanco County Attorney; Rufino Lopez of Laredo; District Attorney Buddy Shepherd of Cranfills Gap; Wayne Choate of San Antonio; and District Judge Jerry D. Ray, Palo Pinto County.
He and Barbara were world travelers, often taking their three daughters (and later including their spouses and children) on trips both around the U.S., Mexico and Canada, as well as several foreign countries. Until recently, he and Barbara continued to enjoy cruises to such destinations as China, Iceland and Russia.
Dean’s love of nature lasted his whole life and he always had a project to improve the land. Like the magnificent oaks he loved, Homer E. Dean Jr. was beloved for his strength, his steadfastness, his generosity and his sheltering arms for all who loved and depended on him.
He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Barbara Dean of Alice; daughter, Barbara (Bill) Dean Hendricks of San Antonio, daughter, Ruth (Don) Dean Brillhart of Alice; daughter, Grace Elizabeth “Becky” (John) Black of La Porte; six grandchildren, Burton (Amy) Dean Brillhart of Dallas, Robert Martin (Kim) Brillhart of Dallas, Katherine Lee Steele of San Antonio, Jack Calloway Steele of San Antonio, Elizabeth “Beth” (Brad) Shields of Austin, and William “Bill” Connell Black of Austin; three great-grandchildren, Annie Mitschke Brillhart, Peden Burton Brillhart and Calloway Thompson Steele; his sister, Mettie Dean Corley of Wimberley; niece, Dean Corley Myane of Blanco; nephew, Gen. John Donald Wesley Corley, USAF, Virginia; niece, Terry McClaugherty Josey of Waco; cousin, Jana Barr Brown of Houston; and their families.
The family thanks the many caregivers for their loving care and kindness throughout his illness.
Family visitation will be Thursday, August 21, 2008 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Dean residence, 900 Lincoln Drive, Alice.
A memorial celebration will be held Friday, August 22, 2008 at 5 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Alice, 501 E. Second Street. Ross Dudney will officiate.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the South Texas Children’s Home, P.O. Box 1210, Beeville, Texas, 78104.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Holmgreen Mortuary of Alice.

Posted in the Alice Echo News Journal, Alice, TX, Wednesday, August 20, 2008 12:00 am.
Updated: 4:26 pm, Fri Nov 18, 2011.


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