Lawanda Lee Dean
1927-2022
Lawanda Lee (Dotson) Dean, age 94, (11/21/1927 – 11/17/2022) was born and raised in Locust Grove, Oklahoma. She graduated from Locust Grove High School and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education at Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater, OK. While at the university, she taught pre-school on campus and met her future husband, Delmer Cecil Dean. They married on August 18, 1951 and settled in Oklahoma City where she taught kindergarten at Rancho Village Elementary before devoting herself to raising their four children.
As the children grew older, she volunteered as an adult literacy tutor, worked at Jean Barnes Christian bookstore, and served as manager of the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference Resource Center where she provided educational materials to clergy and churches across the state.
Through the years she was an active member of Asbury Methodist Church, St Andrews United Methodist Church, Lakeside Methodist Church, Leland Clegg UMC, and Mosaic UMC, supporting women’s, youth, study, and service groups including Meals on Wheels.
Lawanda was a member of the Oklahoma Iris Society, active in her neighborhood association, and a loyal OSU football and basketball fan.
After moving to Epworth Villa in 2010, she engaged in a variety of activities and was known for her persistence in advocating for changes to benefit the community and environment. She served on the Religious Life Committee and was the driving force behind establishing a stroke survivors support group, community recycling and composting programs, Earth Day activities, and researching the history of the Epworth Villa Brill Chapel stained-glass windows.
Lawanda was greatly admired for her insatiable curiosity, sincere interest in others, and sharp memory. She was an attentive listener with a kind, warm, engaging openness that made people feel seen, heard, included, and appreciated.
Lawanda was preceded in death by her parents, James Carey Dotson and Ova (Phillips) Dotson Brown; her brother, Phillip Donald Dotson; and her husband of almost 59 years, Delmer Cecil Dean. She is survived by her son, Carey P. Dean, daughters Teresa A. Dean, Sondra L. Dean, Brenda S. Dean, and grandson J. Michael Plasker.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1:00 pm, Friday, December 2nd, 2022 in the Brill Chapel at Epworth Villa, 14901 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Oklahoma City, OK. A graveside service will be held at Hogan Cemetery near Locust Grove, OK at 2:00 pm on Monday, December 5th, 2022.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Stroke Association (www.Stroke.org) or to the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) at www.OETA.tv.