Remembering Dean (V8festiva)

[25Horseplay]

I thought I would start a post on remembering Dean, tell your story here.
I met Dean in person for the first time at Ohiostiva a couple years ago, although I had talked to him several times before actually meeting him. I can't say enough about what a great guy Dean was. There is no way if you met this man that you wouldn't like him. He was like you'd known him all along! He was such a great upbeat positve person always willing to lend a hand, help with parts etc. He was always promoting Festiva's! I am sure that Dean was passionate about alot of other things in life too and went about them with as much enthusiasum as he did Festiva's. I feel that we have truly lost a good friend to many here at FF.com and Dean will not be forgotten. My thoughts and prayers are with Deans wife and family tonight.

[92festie]

I wish i could tell a story but i never gotta chance to meet em. But he did sound like a pretty cool person!!

[GenevaDirt]

I meet Dean...via phone...a long time ago...talked to him several times over the course of a year I would say, before he joined the site. From the first phone call Dean was like an old friend....we talked for what seemed minutes but when I looked at the clock it was at least an hour. I finally got the chance to actually meet him a couple years ago at one of the Ohiostivas and he was completely how I imagined him. Very friendly and kind, enthusiastic about the cars and the group. Saw him next Ohiostiva and all was the same. He was a Great guy. He helped me numerous times with parts and would not take anything for them. He went out of his way to meet with my daughter in North Carolina to send parts home with her after I had hit a deer. I had planned to go to the last Festiva Madness meet but was unable to attend....I wish there was some way I could of just so I would have been able to see him on his turf and hang out with him and his wife. I know it would have been a great time.

I am sure that I will never forget Dean and all he has done for me and the friendship that I felt we shared....I will miss him.
His family will be in my thoughts and I hope in time I get to see them again.

[BEASTS'TIVA]

dean

never met the man,but through his posts, he gave me the courage to go to the treasure yard and pull my own aspire break swap, by myself. just looking at his pictures and enthusiasm. i could look at his barrel, and just know exactly what to pull. i will miss the man, and am sorry, i never got to meet him in person. rip, my brother.

[yelo festiva]

will miss Dean

No doubt about it, Dean was a great guy. I had the honor to meet him at FM-3. I found out about the meet via a listing he put on epay, very effective getting the word out. I was one of the FL. convoy guys. Dean and his wife hosted a large number of festivas at their house the night before and also the day of FM-3. The meet was very well organized and everybody had a great time. I was looking forward to seeing him again this weekend at the first annual FL. meet, but alas it's not to be. I'm sure there will be more meets but somehow it won't be the same without Dean. RIP brother.

[Flyin4stroke]

I met Dean at FM3 also for the first time, I am happy to of met someone so rare.. They took everyone in like we were family that night we rolled into his driveway, he didn't need to know who we were but that we were there for our cars which he loved.. I received my FM3 video and never got to say thanks to the big guy... Thank you and you will be missed in the community online or not... RIP

[sc72]

Hello,
A few months back i joined this site and after a few days and nights of reading, i quickly realized that Dean was a magnet,a magnet in the sense that if you sent him a mesage or talked to him on the phone you were quickly drawn in by his happy go lucky personality and his passion for Festivs,as i said in another post when we talked on the phone the first it was like we were old buds.

Best regards to his familly.

[MONSOON]

When I spoke with Dean for the 1st time about a week and a half ago, we hadnt talked for more than 15 minutes and he was throwing the offer out to come on up and hit the JYs with him. Said he'd get a few of the guys together for an impromtu mini meet. That I could stay at the house with him and Barbara. And this was an offer put out to someone hed never even met. I got to speak with him twice more the last time being this past Friday. We talked for well over an hour about Festivas, his Econolines and life stuff. What genuinely nice person I thought. And it made me really look forward to the then upcoming Sunshine Meet. While I was and still am looking forward to meeting everyone who was going to be there. Those conversations made me want to meet Dean in particular a little more. To wake up this past Saturday and see Brians post made me literally shed more than a couple tears.
Not just because this site lost a very fine member or I missed out on the chance to meet someone who seemed at least in our conversations to be a warm and generous person. But because of his wife and daughters whom he loved and cared about a great deal. How do I know this? Because he mentioned them all in some manner each time we spoke.

[Zanzer]

I posted this in the other thread but unfortunately it's the only story I have


I still remember the first time Dean and I ever talked on the phone. I got up on a Sunday morning, took my phone off the charger (full charge), and decided to give him a call to talk about some parts and things we had been discussing via PM’s. During that call he and I talked about everything; Fetivas, meets, old Fords, Harleys, you name it. We actually talked until the battery on my phone ran out. Even though this was the first time we had in reality literally spoken to each other it was as if each of us had known the other for years. From speaking with him and talking to others who knew him I believe this was one of the many amazing qualities about him. Whether he knew you for only 10 minutes or 10 years you were treated like an old friend and part of the family. That is a hard quality to find in today’s society and Dean had an abundance of it. You could tell from speaking with him that he had a passion for our cars, our community, and people overall that was without equal.

[ladyblaster]

Just to let everyone know we are putting together a dvd for the family and friends i interviewed alot of people just had them tell a story or any thing they wanted i would love to have some of the guys who were unable to make a small video and email it or post it on my photobucket so that i can add it to the video that way even if you were onl;y here in spirit you can pay your respects and the family will see. thank you
on photobucket look for ladyblaster
angie

[neanderpaul]

I'm in! I'll make the vid and be in touch Angie. Thanks so much!

Like everybody else says. You start talking to him and within minutes you feel like old friends. I swung into gumbys pizza on my way through Raleigh last February. We shot the breeze and like everybody else says you just immediately like him! On that same trip I scored a CHEAP spoiler. I called Geneva dirt, 25horseplay, and Dean because I was stoked! Yeah, Dean killed my cell battery and his too! LOL! He was just awesome. That's all there is too it. I miss him.

[freshtiva]

I never met Dean personally but I know this forum and Festiva(s )never had a better friend and advocate. No way that can be replaced. Thanks Dean for everything !! We will miss you and try to carry on your legacy. Thats a pledge !!!

[hotfordcat]

I never got the chance to meet Dean, but with this many friends he must have been a GREAT person. I have read all of his posts, and enjoyed the Madness ones the most. My prayers go out to the family and friends.

[festivaWES]

Truely a great guy. I had the honor of meeting him and smedley at the last STL meet. We stayed a John's for the night together. He made such a big impact over a short period of time.

[kartracer46]

Dean was one "cool" guy. He gave alot to this and many other communities. He was a truly giving fellow. I had the opportunity to attend the services and meet Smedly and a bunch of the other Festy gang. Deans memories will continue to live on through others. I am looking forward to attending FM4 in his honor this fall. Cheers to one great man and may he find all the Festiva's that were waiting for him in heaven! Dean and DJ are probably up there having a ball knowing they beat us to all the good stuff.