On Tuesday, October 27, 2020, Capt. Norman Arlon Dean, USN(ret.) cast off the wicked chains of Parkinson’s Disease and set sail on his final voyage. He was born August 8, 1943, to the late Dorothella and Norman R. Dean in Amarillo, TX. Having graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1965, Norm was a Naval Submariner and Physician for 30 years. After retiring from the Navy in 1995, he continued to serve as a medical locum tenens in rural areas of VA for the next 10 years.
His Naval career included nuclear engineering on the submarine, USS George Washington Carver; a scholarship to Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; an internship at Balboa Medical Center in San Diego, CA; family practice residency at Camp Pendleton, CA; training at the Undersea Medical Institute in Groton, CT; Diving and Medical Officer for the submarine tender and squadron in Guam; a Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD; OIC Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit #6 in Pearl Harbor, HI; CO of the Naval Hospital in Groton, CT; Personnel Officer to Navy Surgeon General at the Navy Bureau of Medicine in Washington DC; Fleet Medical Officer for SURFLANT, Norfolk, VA.
After his final retirement, he sailed solo to the Bahamas and Key West, during which he diagnosed his Parkinson’s disease. He continued to sail with family and friends for many years from his home port in Norfolk, Va, where he lived with his loving wife of 55 years, Linda Bower Dean.
He is also survived by his daughter, Bambi L. Chapin of Baltimore, MD; son, Kevin L. Dean and his wife Janet of Wilmore, KY; grandsons, Tucker Chapin, Jonathan Dean, and Rowan Dean. He is also survived by his sister, Sharisse McCafferty, of Calgary, Canada and her family.
