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| 7/20/2010 12:23:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Vera Dean 1917-2009
As published in The Miller Press July 21, 2010
Vera Dean, 92, of Oxnard, California and formerly of Miller, S.D., died Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009 in Ventura, California.
A Memorial Celebration will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, July 24, 2010 at the Reck Funeral Home in Miller with Pastor Bob Ohnstad officiating. Burial will follow at G.A.R. Cemetery in Miller. A luncheon will take place following the burial at Trinity Lutheran Church in Miller.
Vera was born in Marian County, Iowa during the annual spring flood so when her dad, Cornelius "Bud" DeGeest, arrived with the doctor, they had to tie the boat up to the doorknob of the house. This was probably the christening of her renowned sense of humor. Vera moved to Hand County with her family as a child to accommodate her mother's, Grace (Wilson) DeGeest's, respiratory ailment. She went to country school and Ree Heights High School. As the oldest child, she took on tasks that always livened up the story telling at family gatherings, like breaking "Old Silver," shocking grain with her sister Isabel for the thrashing crew, and white washing the kitchen. She always said that while growing up on a farm in hard times, she never felt poor and never went hungry. This sense of self-sufficiency was inherited by her sons.
As a young woman, she moved to Miller and worked at the hotel and the Pantry Lunch making friends with many other young adults who entertained themselves, and "the gang" made trips together, documenting them with pictures and stories. It was during this time she met Leonard, who worked at the "Triple A Office," later known as the ASC. They were married on September 18, 1938. They lived in Miller where their siblings also stayed for high school, a tradition that extended to the next generation. Sons Dale and Galen were born in Miller at the hospital over Tom Hogan's Grocery Store. They purchased a small farm south of Miller in the early '40s. Vera was "at home" on the farm, tending to the chickens and milk cows as well as the laborious cooking and chores required to support all the other operations. Jobs at the Coffee Cup Café always brought home new recipes, which she perfected on the old gas stove. Brothers and cousins always had this place to come to in order to get started on their own. In the mid '50s the family moved to Miller, where Vera worked at Jones Drug Store and later at the rest home. Mrs. Campbell called her the longest part-time employee on record. These times were never work for Vera, but rather a chance to socialize and share stories. During this time she became more active in the Eastern Star and she cherished the opportunity to dress up and participate.
The home in Miller was always a gathering spot for friends and relatives. The coffee pot was always on and "visiting" was a practiced science. Travel was always on the calendar. Leonard drove while Vera knitted afghans for every member of the family. Retirement further extended their vacations to where ever their sons were living. California was a favorite wintertime spot and they also loved going to the East Coast. After a year at Good Samaritan Society in Miller, Vera moved to Dale's home in Oxnard, Calif. Later, her care giving was shared with Galen, thanks to the great accommodations made by Southwest Air Lines. We have some great stories to tell you about these trips. Going for a ride in the car became one of Vera's last verbally expressed pleasures as her dementia advanced. "I am going to Miller in the big car." At the respite care facility where she passed away on December 3, 2009, the caregivers expressed this phrase with us, "She has gone to Miller in the big car."
She is survived by sons: Dale (Lupe) of Oxnard, Calif., and Galen (Sharon) of Plate City, Mo.; sisters: Opal Roach of Miller and Mary Lou Seville of Pomona, Calif.; brother, Robert of Redfield; grandchildren, Greg (Amy) of Mumbai, India, Brad (Penny) of Tea, S.D., Jeff (Karen) of Lawrence, Kan., Brian (Cindy) of Milwaukee, Wis., and Denise (Allen Landers) Auburn, Ala.; and great-grandchildren, Robin, Heather, Allen, Alisa, Alex, Ryan, Madelyn, Nathan and Drew.
She was preceded in death by her husband Leonard; her parents; and sisters, Isabel and Wilma.
Memorials can be made to the Order of the Eastern Star Crescent Chapter # 4.
Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Vera's arrangements. Visit www.familyfuneralhome.net.
Paid obituary
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