William Dean: City Guy in the
Garden
Billy
Dean called his mom every day, just to tell her what was
going on. "Which couldn't have been much, because he had
just spoken to her the day before," noted his sister
Donna Dean. "He did it because he knew how much it meant
to her."
He would also place a separate call each day to his
father, just so dad would not feel left out. They would
discuss home improvements, gardening, the stock market.
"If you ever saw Billy's front lawn or looked at the
condition of his stock portfolio," said Donna Dean.
"You'd realize it was often the blind leading the
blind."
Mr. Dean, 35, was a lifelong New Yorker, a survivor of
a Hell's Kitchen childhood, a graduate of the Bronx High
School of Science and then the College of Insurance,
which eventually opened the door to a career at Marsh
& McLennan, where he was a vice president in claims
casualty. Yet when he and his wife, Tricia, moved to
Floral Park, on Long Island, six years ago, Mr. Dean
became an instant surburbanite, taking up gardening and
installing sheet rock in a bedroom they had added on.
Tricia Dean talked of her husband's athleticism -- he
had completed one New York City Marathon and two
triathalons on Long Island -- as well as his greatest
chagrin: his shock of red hair. Growing up, he disdained
red clothing lest it clash with his curls; as an adult he
opted for a Marine-style cut. Yet for those who adored
those locks and their bearer, their legacy will endure on
his 3- year-old son, Matthew, and perhaps even his baby
daughter, Claire Anne, who was born on Dec. 18.
"All of his achievements were a quiet daily pursuit,
one that he never confused with financial prosperity or
possessions," said his sister Donna. "He was successful
because he loved us all every day, little by little,
gesture by gesture, word by word."
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