Dennis Creed

Denny was the first of four children born to Virginia and Loren Creed on February 20, 1942, in Youngstown, OH. When Denny was just three months old, his father was drafted into the Army Air Force, where he served as an airplane mechanic during WWII. When Denny turned 4, the Creed family moved to California, first settling in Monterey Park, and then moving to Pico Rivera where his father established a nursery. The family nursery had a big influence on Denny (that’s where he got his “green thumb”), as he pursued a formal education, and ultimately received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Agriculture and Ornamental Horticulture from Cal Poly Pomona.

In 1968 Denny started working as an Agriculture Teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District at Mt. Gleason JHS. He taught in the classroom as well as from his garden for 4 years before the school Principal reassigned him from Teacher to school Counselor. Being a school Counselor seemed to be a good fit for Denny, as he later became a Disciplinary Dean at North Hollywood High School.

Denny met Brenda in 1980 while they were both working at North Hollywood High. And in 1984 Denny and Brenda transferred to Taft High School – both as Disciplinary Deans while Brenda also assumed the role of Athletic Director. At Taft High School, whenever a student got into trouble, they would be given the choice of either seeing Mr. Creed or (as Denny put it) his “older sister” Mrs. Creed. The kids never figured that one out.

Denny, with 4 children from his first wife – Jenny, Cindy, Tracey and Jeff, and Brenda, with her 2 sons Jason and Jeffrey from a previous marriage, decided to marry in December of 1984. As a newly formed family of 8, the six children were close in age and they soon became best friends. The family was happy, blessed, and always gave Denny “2 thumbs up” as a husband, father, brother, then later as a father-in-law and grandfather.

After being a Disciplinary Dean for about 12 years, Denny changed positions in LAUSD to Pupil Services and Attendance Counselor. The Mini-District that Denny served was comprised of about 70 schools. As a PSA Counselor, he made many home calls across the Los Angeles area. One of Denny’s closest friends recalled that Denny would make his home calls with a trunk full of shoes, clean clothes that the kids had outgrown, and boxes of old puzzles. As he made his home calls, he would make sure that each student would have something appropriate to wear, so that they would not be embarrassed when they returned to school. And, Denny would encourage the kids to stay in school by offering them a puzzle for good attendance. In all, Denny and Brenda supervised over 15 Senior Proms, and hundreds of football games and athletic events.

During the last three years before retirement, Denny worked directly for one of the School District Superintendents, on a Crisis Response Team. There were a number of days when Denny would receive an urgent phone call very early in the morning, directing him to a school that had experienced a crisis. Denny would set up a crisis counseling group comprised of District personnel and school counselors, to help the students, teachers, coaches, and staff deal with the crisis; and then Denny would coach the school Principal on how to talk to the news media.

While the kids were still going to school, the family took many vacations in their motorhome, as well as water-skiing trips, snow-skiing trips, fishing trips and even a vacation to Hawaii. They were able to fit all of those vacations around the Summer School schedule, so that Denny and Brenda could work Summer School, to help save up money for their kids’ college education. When all of the children completed their education pursuits, it was time to retire.

Denny and Brenda retired in 2001. Denny (only being 59 years old) felt that a person should retire when they had just enough money to do so, rather than staying at work to max-out their retirement pay. And, Denny felt that one should retire when they still looked forward to going to work every Monday. As a special note, when Denny retired from LAUSD, he received a Commendation from the City of Los Angeles for his Commitment, Contributions and Service to the School District for over 33 years.

After they retired, Denny and Brenda took the whole family, including grandkids, on an Alaskan cruise. Then Denny purchased a new motorhome and they both began spending their summers at Netarts Bay near Tillamook, OR. Denny loved to fish in the Tillamook Bay, crab and clam in Netarts Bay, volunteer at the Elk’s Lodge and the Trask River and Whiskey Creek Hatcheries. In reflecting on Denny’s volunteer work to spawn salmon at the hatchery, he said it was important to give back to the fisheries to insure a strong and sustainable fishing future. Denny loved the Tillamook area with all of their dairies. And as a side note, Denny’s grandmother used to say that even as a young child in Ohio, Denny would go on “milk runs” with his grandfather and just loved the “smell of the dairy!”

Longtime friends Dave and Sharon Smith spoke highly of the benefits of living in Sun City Anthem in NV, so Denny and Brenda had a home built in the Anthem development, and in 2003 they moved from Simi Valley CA to their new home in Sun City Anthem. The Anthem lifestyle was perfect for them. They enjoyed playing golf, traveling with the RV Club, enjoyed entertaining visitors and family, and going to a wide variety of entertainment venues in Las Vegas. However, after their first July in Henderson, they knew that they would rather spend their summer months along the Oregon Coast. So in 2006, they purchased a second home in the Capes near Netarts Bay, where they enjoyed living at the beach with perfect summer weather, and enjoyed activities with many wonderful friends.

Each August, Denny would look forward to the Tillamook County Fair, where he would enter his canned preserves. This year, with the help of many friends, his entries made it to the Fair, where he received a 1st Place Ribbon for Peach Jam and Jalapeño Jelly, 2nd Place Ribbon for Blueberry Jam, Albacore Tuna, Raspberry Jam and Bread & Butter Pickles, and a 3rd Place Ribbon for Strawberry Jam.

In the spring of 2017, Denny and Brenda moved to their present home in Beaver, OR, which became Denny’s favorite. Denny loved the peaceful surrounding, and he would build a fire in the shop’s fireplace early in the morning, and enjoy a cup of coffee. Then he would hop on the John Deere, and go out to mow the lawn. He would be completely absorbed in mowing straight rows and making sure that the entire lawn was perfectly manicured. He loved to work in his garden, and something you may not have known, is that Denny would study the Farmer’s Almanac during the winter months in Henderson, to determine what flowers and vegetables he should plant for his next harvest season in Oregon. Denny planted many varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, berries, and more.

While in Oregon, Denny enjoyed sitting in the shop’s office, and making-up different fishing tackle designs to see what might work best; and he loved sitting on the back deck porch which overlooked the Nestucca River. He loved watching the baby raccoons forage for food in the river, watching the salmon spawn, and he even enjoyed watching the deer make an occasional visit to dine in his garden. He loved eating raw oysters from J Andy’s, and loved watching the eagles, egrets and ring neck doves fly and roost in the trees.

Denny loved fishing even if he didn’t catch anything, and just enjoyed taking the boat out and picnicking on the water, and then coming back to Bob Paterson’s dock when he ran out of food. He enjoyed taking guests out fishing, clamming and crabbing. And it gave him much joy to put a fellow angler over a salmon, and then get that fish in the boat!

Denny appreciated a “life well lived” where his journey touched many, many lives. During his life, everyone who knew him admired the way he related to, and respected, his students, fellow counselors, administrators, and his family and friends. Sadly, he passed away on September 6th after battling esophageal cancer for 9 months, and there was a small family funeral service for him on September 8th at the Las Vegas Buddhist Church. On October 19th, the family hosted a beautiful Celebration of Life at his home in Beaver Oregon with relatives, and many Oregon friends and fishermen.

This December 27th would have been Denny and Brenda’s 35th Wedding Anniversary. As they have done for the last 10 years, the family will continue their annual family reunion in December, and enjoy a nice dinner at Lawry’s Prime Rib on the 27th. However, this year there will be an empty seat at the head of the table.

Denny had a great appreciation for his friends and family, he always kept the light on, and he always kept the door open to new friends. Denny will be truly missed by all, whose lives he touched in uncountable ways.

The family would like to thank everyone for taking time out from your busy schedule to gather here today, to celebrate Denny’s life. And, the family would like to thank everyone for their support, kind offers of love, and condolences.

Please view this video created by the family in honor of Denny's memory (copy and paste link into browser): https://youtube.com/watch?v=tHdMveorJ8U