January 12, 2020, is the day we lost a giant of a tiny woman. Linda Jane Dean was born on August 25, 1938, in Grand Saline, TX. She was the daughter of Ray R. Roberts and Sarah V. Lindsey.  Her maternal grandparents were Olen and Lissie Douglas Lindsey of Wills Point, TX, and her paternal grandparents were Fenton F. and Mary O. Roberts, also of Wills Point. The family lived in Van, TX, where Linda's father managed a dry goods store. The family later moved to Gilmer, TX, where her father took a job with Marshall's Dry Goods. When WWII began, her father participated in the invasion at Normandy as part of Patton's Army. He received a Purple Heart and hid out with a Belgium family until rescued by American troops. Upon her father's return, the family moved to Pittsburg, TX, where Mr. Roberts opened a new Marshall's store.  Linda Jane was very active in Mount Pleasant HS, serving as an officer in several clubs and was a member of the high school choir and the marching band. Her family was very active in the Tennyson Memorial Methodist Church. Upon graduation, she attended North Texas University where she received a degree in Elementary Education. She married the love of her life, Billy Dean, on March 10, 1961, in Wills Point. She was passionate about teaching, which she did for 32 years, retiring from WPISD in 1992. Linda loved her family, genealogy, and volunteering for the genealogical society.

She was her husband's Dolly, having been married for some 58 plus years. She was an awesome Mom, Grandmommy, and more. All it takes is a circuit of her home to see just how much she loved and was loved. It's amazing to go there and see virtually every available surface covered in photos of her greatest treasure, her family, and never about herself. She loved openly and proudly. We all know the meaning of "give us two rings" because of her, and that simple "I made it safely back home" message system has grown exponentially. Her loved ones have taken up that system with friends and other family members. It was due to her immense love of her family that our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations are so joyously attended. And yet she allegedly had a temper as a young woman, but her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, son-and daughter-in-law never saw even a semblance of that, instead just being shown love and comfort at every turn (well, children being children, they probably saw a glimpse or two). Supposedly, she and her older brother, Larry, used to leave their home to fight each other so as to avoid getting into trouble. Hard to imagine that from the lady we loved. She did, though, rather proudly tell us all of the time her mother told her to stay in the bathroom until she thought she could behave. Apparently, that turned into hours due to her uncertainty that she could, in fact, behave! She was honest about it, at least! Her support was a given in our lives, and she took every opportunity to travel upon retirement, whether that was for a vacation or merely to go and watch a grandchild's soccer, volleyball, football or baseball game. She and Bill, in fact, had a regular rotation of local eating establishments for their daily outing post-retirement. She was our puzzling queen, leaving a closet loaded with them, so if you need puzzles… she was a similarly voracious reader, also leaving her family with a mess of books to donate. Linda Dean was also an Olympic quality mis-pronouncer and a bad story-teller; but, those mispronunciations and hilariously bad storytelling events will forever be laughed about among us. While standing, at best, 5' tall late in life, she used to say she was much taller, but only chose to stand that tall. She was not wrong- she was truly a giant to us all. She will live forever with us, having left an indelible mark on her most cherished posession- her family. She showed us how to live; she showed us how to love. She set the bar incredibly high for us all. She was loved back and will be missed immensely.

Linda passed away on January 12, 2020, at the age of 81. She had been a resident of Wills Point since 1984.  She is survived by her husband, Billy Dean; daughter and son-in-law, Karen and Greg Fraser; son and daughter-in-law, Kevin and Diane Dean; grandchildren, Samantha Collins and husband, Josh Collins, Maddie Fraser, Margaret Anne Dean, Dylan Dean and wife, Shea Dean; great-grandsons Dakota and Daxton Collins; brother and sister in law, Larry and Shirley Roberts; brother, Rick Roberts, and many other nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents.

A Graveside service will be held Wednesday, January 15, 2020, at DFW National Cemetery at 9:30 AM. Services are in care of Allan Fuller Funeral Home.