FENTON, Ill. —
June 22, 1921 - Oct. 27, 2012
Dean A. Bealer, 91, of Fenton, died Saturday, October 27, at his home.
Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m Saturday, Nov. 3, at Ebenezer Reformed Church in Morrison, with Ken Renkes, director of congregational care at Ebenezer Reformed Church in Morrison, and the Rev. Donald Barnes, retired pastor of Wheaton, Ill., officiating. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, at the Morrison Chapel of the Bosma-Renkes Funeral Home. Graveside committal service and interment will be 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Fenton Cemetery, Fenton, Ill., with military funeral honors.
Memorials may be made to The King’s Closet in Erie, Ill., and The Salvation Army.
He was born June 22, 1921, in Fenton, Ill., to Wayne E. and Alice E. (Pyse) Bealer.
Dean was educated in the rural Fenton Grade School and was a 1939 graduate of Erie High School in Erie, Ill.
He first married Jacqueline I. “Jackie” Kier on Feb. 20, 1944, in Morrison, Ill.; she died Dec. 12, 2001. He then married Kathy A. Dykema on Sept. 11, 2004, in Morrison; she survives.
Dean’s earliest employment was at a gas station in Morrison. He also worked for his uncle, Ross Bealer, at the Chevrolet auto dealership in Morrison. In 1940, Dean joined the U.S. Navy during World War II and was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. He attended flight school at the Naval Aviation School in San Diego, CA, where he was certified as a flight aviation radioman. He then served as a radio specialist for search and rescue missions. During one of his missions, Dean’s plane went down while over water. In that experience, Dean acquired a greater insight into the importance of his job. He was awarded the Purple Heart medal. Upon completion of his “tour of duty,” Dean was hired by the U.S. Postal Service as a rural letter carrier. He worked in that capacity for 35 years.
Dean was a baptized member of the Evangelical Brethren Church. He was “born again” at Iona Lake, IN, in 1967. Dean is a member of the Ebenezer Reformed Church, Morrison, Ill. Dean is a member of the Buzzard’s Club and enjoyed the 8:30 a.m. daily meetings in “the shop.”
In 1955, Dean bought the Fenton School and remodeled it into a home for himself and his family. Dean served his Lord, served his country and served his fellow man.
Survivors include his wife, Kathy; two daughters, Marcia (Randall) Hekman of Grand Rapids, MI, and Patricia MacDonald of Laguna Beach, CA; eighteen grandchildren; and thirty-three great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, first wife, Jackie; one daughter, Susan Ritzenthaler; and one sister, Evelyn Cocking.
To send online condolences go to www.bosmarenkes.com.
Death date: Oct. 27, 2012
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