Russ Dean Obituary (1949 - 2022)

Russell Dean, 73, passed away on December 31, 2022. He was surrounded by those that he loved the most. He was born October 7, 1949 to Shervin and Beatrice Dean. He was the youngest of four. He grew up in Evanston, Wyoming and lived there through his early education. He played basketball and football and was the President of his class of 1968. He also was the lead singer of a popular band called The Heddz. He then moved to Ogden and started school at Weber State College. He joined the fraternity Tai Kappa Epsilon and was very active in college life. After graduation he moved back to Wyoming and started working as a patrol officer. During this time, he met and married his one true love, Cindy Oldroyd and they had four daughters. Although Russ was a dedicated police officer and detective, he gave his girlies as much as they needed to feel loved and adored. He made them feel safe, and he taught them to stand up for what they believed in. He taught them to follow their dreams, and that there was nothing that they couldn't accomplish with hard work and perseverance. He taught them to treat others the way that they would want to be treated. Russ was a Lieutenant Detective in Evanston when he decided to move the family to Ogden. He accepted a position at Weber State University and started the first Crime Scene Unit for Weber County. He later taught as a professor and his "systematic and thorough" mantra was learned by thousands of law enforcement professionals through the world who are now teaching hundreds of students those same lessons. He was a member of Disaster Mortuary Response Team (DMORT) and was on the ground recovering and identifying victims of September 11th, as well as Hurricane Katrina. He has three men that are very close and dear to his heart, Paul Rimmasch, Mitch Pilkington, and Jason Romney. They stood by Russ until his last breath, and they were unwavering in their support for him and his daughters. Russ loved to garden, and he grew amazing tomatoes and peppers. He loved being in the sun, and to swim in his pool. He loved to lie on the floor on Saturday mornings singing with all of his girls to his favorite music. He loved his doggies Bumper, Jack, Charley, Benny and Jett. He gave endearing nicknames to everyone he knew. He was a brilliant, hilarious, charismatic and complicated man with a heart of gold. Russ is survived by his four daughters Elizabeth "Bizzy" Dean, Sheri "Sherbie" Dean (Aaron), Melissa "Doodoodooo" Dean (Andy), and Sady "Suzy Q" Dean, his eight grandchildren Hannah, Noah, Aspen, Charley, Emelia, Kolby, Hayden, and Sam and his sister Kay Bloomfield (Kent) and brother Freddy Dean (Kim), and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Shervin and Beatrice, his brother Neil, and his nephew Brady. A viewing will be held on Thursday January 12, 2023 at 1:00-3:00 PM and a funeral service from 3:15-4:00 at Myers Mortuary, 845 Washington Blvd., Ogden, UT. A Celebration of his Life will be held immediately following the funeral at The Copper Nickel at 2450 Grant Ave, Ogden, UT 84401. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Safe Harbor to help victims of Domestic Violence. Donations can be made in his name directly to Safe Harbor at safeharborhope.org. Russ' service will be live streamed and can be watched on his obituary page at www.myers-mortuary.com. To watch scroll to the bottom of his obituary page, it will remain on the website indefinitely.