Carol Anne Dean

It is with profound sadness that the family of Carol Dean announce her peaceful passing on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 in the arms of her closest family at the Palliative Care Unit at St Paul’s Hospital. Carol bravely battled a terminal diagnosis of kidney cancer for just over 3 years with the motto “Tomorrow will be better”. She had a passion for life and her grandchildren kept her motivated to live despite the bad days she had from her cancer treatment side effects. Carol was the most courageous, intelligent, compassionate, friendly and witty woman that we know. She is survived by son Ryan, daughter Lana, son-in-law Grant, grandson Hudson, grandson Casey, brother Bob, sister-in-law Colleen, nephew Kyle (Cassidy) and niece Janessa (Jeremy).

Carol was born on August 11, 1953 at St Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, SK and was raised on a farm near the town of Struan, SK. She attended the University of Saskatchewan to complete her Bachelor of Education Degree here in Saskatoon where she met lots of lifetime friends. She worked as a Grade 1 teacher in seven different schools for 36 years after signing a contract with the Saskatoon Board of Education. While working as a teacher, her girlfriend wanted her to meet Glen Dean, her accountant, on a blind date whom later became her husband in 1979. Her girlfriend was from India and always teased her that Glen and Carol had an arranged marriage! Carol and Glen raised their two children, Ryan and Lana, in a busy home life where they supported their children during school and all of their extracurricular activities. Glen had a stroke in 2012 so Carol was his primary caregiver until 2021 when she became ill herself. She always put others before herself.

Every time she got annoyed with her principal while teaching, she took commerce classes resulting in her being granted a certificate in administration thus allowing her to work in the business world after her teaching career. After retiring from teaching, she tried staying at home but got bored very quickly so she applied for the front office assistant at Villa Royale where she worked for five years retiring in 2015. Following her retirement, she did some travelling with her immediate family including Hawaii with her husband, a four-week tour of their heritage in England/Ireland/Scotland, Italy/Greece/France with her daughter, and Newfoundland/Caribbean Cruise with her son. Whenever she travelled, she did whatever she wanted, regardless of the price, because she said she would likely never get back so didn’t want to have any regrets. And she didn’t.

Carol was passionate about teaching and always ensured her grandchildren learned something new every week when they visited their Grandma D including ensuring Hudson’s first word was “Mama”, which it was. Until the day Carol died, she still ran into former students who said she was their “best teacher ever”, albeit hardest. She also loved to read, travel, bake, cook, socialize, and host gatherings where everyone was always welcome. Outside of work, Carol played an important role in her community by assisting the McClure United Church with bible vacation school, was a member of Eastern Star, and fundraised for various events.

Family was very important to Carol and she will always be loved and remembered by them. A Memorial Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, October 25, 2024 at McClure United Church (4025 Taylor Street East, Saskatoon). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan in honour of Carol Anne Dean: https://www.cancerfoundationsask.ca/donate/.

Arrangements entrusted to Ryan Lensen.