Betty (nee Diel) Dean, 88, passed away Sunday, May 19, 2019 surrounded by three of her children. Loving mother of William Dean, Robert (Vicky) Dean, Thomas Dean, John (Debbie) Dean, Kathy (Jeff) Brnak, and Amy (Robert) Ondr; dear grandmother of Meredith (Josh) Gruner, Morgan (Sandy) Dean, Bonnie (Patrick) Mills, Patrick (Amy) Dean, Kelli (Susi Riegel) Dean, Brittany (Dustin) Kaufman, Justin Warman, Megan (Bryant) Cooper, Paige (Nicholas) Seidel, and the late Jacob Dean; great grandmother of Holland, Welles, Stella, Gloria, June, Grayson, Rowan, Hunter, and Eric; dear sister of the late Mary Ann Schoeller; dear sister-in-law of Jerry Schoeller; dear aunt, cousin, and friend to many.
After being a stay at home mom and raising her 6 children, Betty had a successful career as a party planner for a party rental company in St. Louis. She loved her job and helped to plan some of the best parties in St. Louis.
Later in her life, Betty fulfilled her dream of traveling. She took her first trip in 1992 to Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Over the next 15 years she traveled to over 40 countries on all 7 continents. She went on Safari in Kenya, slept in a yurt in Mongolia, rode a camel in China, was baptized in the Jordon River in Israel, pet a kangaroo and koala bear in Australia, took a hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Africa, stood at the Great Wall of China, and walked with the penguins on Antarctica. But her favorite part of her trips was meeting people, dining in their homes, and learning about their lives.
She was a social butterfly and loved talking to people. Everyone she met she called her friend from the pharmacist at Walgreens to the guy at the deli counter at Dierbergs.
She loved food and especially dessert. If she had a good meal at a restaurant, she would ask to speak with the chef to tell him or her how great her meal was. She liked nice things and nice clothes. She was a great cook but never followed a recipe. She liked giving funny gifts, going to the Fox Theatre and cheering for the Cardinals. She was active in her church and generous to several charitable organizations.
She was proud to own her own home and reluctant to leave it but thankfully she spent the last year of her life at Delmar Gardens in Fenton where she was well cared for, made new friends, enjoyed playing bingo, listening to live music, eating in the "restaurant", and participating in cooking classes, church services and art activities. She was grateful for her eldest son Bill who was her primary caregiver and helped her to remain active and engaged for many years.
SERVICES: Visitation 4:00pm - 8:00pm Thursday, May 23, 2019. Funeral 10am Friday, May 24, 2019 KRIEGSHAUSER MORTUARY WEST CHAPEL 9450 Olive Blvd., Olivette, MO. Interment Memorial Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Betty's memory are suggested to the Alzheimer's Association.
