James H Dean

James H. ("Jimmy") Dean, of Stamford, passed away on October 21, 2015. He was 93. On Halloween, 2014, Jimmy suffered a heart attack. After being released from Stamford Hospital, Mr. Dean was under the care of the Regency Rehabilitation facility on Courtland Avenue. Jimmy Dean was born on July 19, 1922, in New Canaan, CT to Mr. Casper H. and Mrs. Katherine Dean. A 1940 graduate of New Canaan High School, Mr. Dean worked for Karl Chevrolet after high school. Prior to joining the Marine Corps, Jimmy was nominated and accepted into the New Canaan Fire Department. (Jimmy was known, in the Fire Department, as "Dizzy Dean.") On September 18, 1942, Private James H. Dean, 337151, USMC, and the Marines of "L" Company, 3rd Battalion ("The Cutting Edge"), of the 7th Marine Regiment ("The Magnificent 7th"), landed on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. They reinforced the 11,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Division, under the command of Maj. Gen. A.A. Vandegrift, who had landed on August 7th, opening the first ground offensive in the Pacific against Imperial Japan. (In April, L/3/7, under the command of Lt. Col. E. J. Farrell, had sailed aboard the U.S.S. Harris for pre-combat training in the Samoan Islands.) Between November 1 and 3, the men of "L" Company, 3/7 were engaged in combat against the Japanese west of the Matanikau River. On Dec.1, 1942, Lt. Col. W.R. Williams promoted Private Dean to the rank of Private First Class (temporary). On Dec. 26, 1943, PFC Dean and "L" Company landed at Cape Gloucester, on New Britain Island, and took part in the assault on the Japanese airfields there through to Jan. 19, 1944. On September 15, 1944, Corporal James H. Dean and "L"/3/7 landed on Peleliu, in the Palau Islands. On Sept. 17, 3rd Batt., 7th Marines attacked the southern promontory. Cpl. Dean was invalided off Peleliu, and ultimately shipped to the U.S. Naval Hospital, Cape May, New Jersey and was awarded the Purple Heart. On May 7, 1945, Gen. Alfred Jodl, of the OKW, signed the unconditional surrender of all German military, effective May 8, 1945. On May 8, 1945, a German U-Boat submarine, patrolling undetected off the coast of New Jersey, radioed surrender to the U.S. Navy. Corporal Dean was ordered to take a squad of U.S. Marines from the Naval Hospital at Cape May, in a U.S. Navy whaleboat, armed with M-1 rifles, to take possession of this Nazi U-Boat. The Marines traveled more than 3 miles, in this open boat, to where the U-Boat was idling in international waters. Seventy years later, Jimmy commented on how wet and cold the Marines were by the time they reached the German submarine, and accepted its surrender. On August 15, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered, ending WW II, Corporal James H. Dean was an Instructor, on the rifle range, at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California. Jimmy Dean was one of the charter members, in 1946, of VFW Post 6933, in Noroton Heights, Darien, of which he was a member until his death. On June 24, 1950, James H. Dean married Miss Joan Barbara Coughlin, of Stamford. In 1958, they purchased the home where they raised their two sons, James Jr. and Stephen. In 1951, Jimmy Dean went to work at Pitney Bowes, in Stamford. Thirty-five years later, when he retired, he and his wife, Joan, started a dog care and sitting business, "DogznCatz." In retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Dean traveled extensively in the U.S. and Europe. A 4th Degree Knight, Jimmy was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Council No. 41, Stamford, for sixty-five years. James H. Dean is survived by his wife of sixty-five years, Joan Coughlin Dean; a son, James, Jr., of San Diego, CA; and, his sister, Sister Anna Pearl Dean of The Sisters of St. Joseph of West Hartford, CT. Jimmy was predeceased by his son Stephen. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 am on Wednesday morning, October 28th at St. John Church, 1986 Post Road, in Darien, CT. His interment will follow to St. John Cemetery in Darien, CT. The Dean family has entrusted the funeral arrangements to the Bosak Funeral Home. If you would like to leave an expression of sympathy, you may sign the guestbook at www.bosakfuneralhome.com or visit the Facebook page to share memories with his family at www.facebook.com/bosakfuneralhome .

James H Dean

July 19, 1922 - October 21, 2015