Dean Dover Barger, Jr.

January 18, 1941 – May 18, 2016 Dean Dover Barger, Jr. was born to Dean D. Barger, Sr. and Martha Case Barger in San Antonio, TX while his dad served in the military, but he was “raised” in Chattanooga, TN. He passed away on May 18, 2016.

Dean was a family man, husband, father, friend, brother, Big Dean, Deanie Weenie, and the Big Bopper (an affectionate nickname from his colleagues at Interstate Paper). Dean used to tell stories about being a kid and riding his bike all over the hills of Chattanooga. He joked that he did it to develop his calf muscles and that it was probably the reason he was the tallest and biggest kid in his class from kindergarten through elementary school. By the end of 8th grade, he was 5’8”. He went on to City High, graduated, but never grew another inch! Dean’s college days were spent at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He absolutely loved everything about UT and graduated with the class of ‘65. Dean was a member of the Scarabbean Senior Society, Sigma Chi Fraternity, ROTC, Vol Corps, Circle K, Adawayhi, President and S.A.M. Every year, Dean looked forward to hearing “It’s Football Time in Tennessee” and for several years was a season ticket holder until his health began to fail. He enjoyed the Lady Vols, men’s basketball, and anything else that involved UT. He was 100% “Big Orange.” He was quite proud that as a co-op student, he graduated not owing one dime to anyone. He was equally proud to have served our country in Vietnam and was awarded a Bronze Star for his service.Dean worked in the paper industry, Forest Products Division of Continental Group for over 20 years and then 10 years at Interstate Paper in Riceboro, GA, where he was General Manager. Dean’s career took him to Boston, New Jersey, Augusta, GA, New York, Connecticut, Savannah, GA, and Memphis. He knew the paper industry, loved it, and made many lifelong friends along the way.

Among the many things Dean enjoyed were rose gardens, movies, sports, travel, rock n’ roll music and the blues. Some of his favorite artists included B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Smokey Robinson, Jerry Lee Lewis and John Lee Hooker. His favorite vacation spot was Hawaii. He also had a fascination and love for cars. When the kids were of driving age, Saturday afternoons were often spent in a salvage yard looking for parts to fix up a used car or checking out another potential purchase. He was a do-it-yourselfer and a “shade tree” mechanic. Dean taught the boys and Anne how to change oil; put on new brake shoes; change out a distributor cap and gap the spark plugs; swap out a battery; change belts; change various filters; and the “right” way to jack up a car and change a tire. He was convinced that this was essential knowledge if you were to drive and take care of a car. Dean was also a total foodie and fancied himself an amateur chef. He served up some great meals over the years, though there were some that remain a mystery to this day! Some of his food and beverage favorites were shrimp, scallops, fried chicken, a rare steak, collard greens, biscuits and gravy, fried okra, grits, and a “great single malt” Scotch whiskey. There wasn’t much in the food category Dean didn’t like. Above everything else, Dean’s greatest sense of pride was his family. He is survived by Anne, his wife of almost 40 years; sons Dean D. Barger III (Laura) of Olive Branch, MS and Alexander D. Barger (Cynthia) of Cordova, TN; stepsons Berry Williams (Julie) of FL, Mark Williams (Claudia) of CA, Jeffrey Williams of DC, and Jason Williams of FL; and grandchildren Jason, Christian, Jordon, Sydney, Jay, Justin, Thomas, Jeffrey, Elijah, Lucas, Collin, and Jackson; sister Mrs. Nancy Cox of Signal Mountain, TN; nieces and nephew Mrs. Katherine Shaw of Chapel Hill, NC, Mr. Ronald “David” Cox of Chattanooga, TN, and Mrs. Nancy “Sherry” Farrell of Signal Mountain, TN; and several great nieces and nephews.

Dean loved God, family, friends, country, and doing random acts of kindness, which he did throughout his life. A gathering and catered reception will be held at Memphis Funeral Home Sunday, May 22 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Dean may be offered to the Union Mission, Salvation Army or the American Cancer Society.