Jocelyn Violet Dean

It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of our beautiful Mother Jocelyn Dean. She has fought a long, grueling battle with dementia that has officially taken her from us on Monday Dec. 22nd, 2025 at the age of 73.

Jocelyn was born to her late parents Norman and Jean (Stevens) Hutt on April 21, 1952. She was raised in Owl’s Head Harbour, NS with her younger brother, Larry. Her parents instilled strong family values which she carried forward to her own family. When Jocelyn was 19 she met the love of her life, her prince, Chris Dean while she was studying at St. Mary’s University and they married on May 3rd, 1974, like her very own fairytale. They shared a storybook romance and deep connection for 52 years that endured even through dementia as Chris was the love and light of her life. Their love was stronger than the illness and Jocelyn still smiled and giggled at Chris’s presence even as dementia took away her voice.

Chris and Jocelyn had a honeymoon in Nassau Bahamas, and it would be the first of many trips and adventures they would share together. They bought their first home in Dartmouth in 1974 while Jocelyn worked at Eaton’s at Mic Mac Mall. They soon started a family and Jocelyn became the loving mother of two daughters Andrea and Cindy who completed her life-long dream of becoming a mom. Jocelyn was the most devoted mother who valued family more than anything. She stayed at home to raise her children while they were younger and introduced strong family beliefs and traditions with home-cooked meals every day and being ever present as they grew up; with carefully planned birthday parties and cute outfits, while Chris ran a 24-hour service station. She always put her family first as she loved them unconditionally and could talk on the phone with her daughters for hours even after they grew-up and had families of their own. She loved her 4 grandchildren very much and always loved hearing about their adventures. Jocelyn had many family pets including dogs, cats and a parakeet she adored because she was truly a nurturer in every way.

Family vacations were important to Jocelyn which began when her kids were very small and she brought them to Fairyland in PEI because it felt like living a fairytale. Eventually she planned many other family vacations including her parents 50th wedding anniversary celebration back to her Honeymoon location. Other family trips included Florida, New York, Venezuela and Porta Plata. Every trip was thoughtfully planned, and Jocelyn brought the magic through her love. As a couple Chris and Jocelyn traveled to California, Mexico, Jamaica, and most important of all, Jocelyn’s favorite vacation ever which was a Caribbean cruise where she got to dress like a princess and dance the night away under the stars with her loving prince.

Jocelyn enjoyed any chance to dance and was a music lover. She attended many concerts, dances and would never miss a chance to dance every time the music was on. She shared this love with her sister-in-law, Karen (Dean) Huzel. She also loved to shop, especially while traveling, and enjoyed exploring local shops and stores on vacation, always finding special treasurers and souvenirs to bring home for herself and those she loved.

Jocelyn worked alongside her loving husband for 20+ years at Kwik Kopy Printing in Burnside, and was the bookkeeper for Dean Falconry until her illness prevented her from continuing.

Jocelyn, like her mom before her, loved the color green, yellow and everything to do with frogs. Jocelyn was a frog collector for all occasions which she proudly displayed around the house. Jocelyn had a keen eye for design, color schemes and enjoyed decorating her home which she did beautifully.

Jocelyn was a loving mother of Andrea Crichton (Steve) and Cindy Mann (Graham). Jocelyn was an incredibly proud Grandma to Chelsea, Victoria, Chloe and James and Aunt to many nieces and nephews.

The family, especially Chris, would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the nursing team, staff, caretakers, management and volunteers at Oakwood Terrace who have given her their unwavering care and quality of life and become a significant part of our Dad’s life over the past year. The care team at Oakwood Terrace are among finest group of people imaginable.

The family would like to thank A.L. Mattatall Funeral Home in Dartmouth for cremation services and for hosting a visitation Tuesday Jan. 6th from 6:30-8:30pm. A Funeral mass will take place Wednesday Jan. 7th at 10:00am at Divine Mercy Parish - St. Clement Catholic Church on Gaston Rd. in Dartmouth with reception to follow downstairs thanks to the St. Clement Funeral Committee, Glenda Carson with the Catholic Women’s League, and to Father Gerald and Father Vincent for making this possible.