The day after former state Sen. Nathan Dean died, someone took the time to place a floral spray near a highway sign on Nathan Dean Parkway.
“A lot of people knew and loved him and thought of him as their senator, which sets him apart in today’s world,” said Boyd Austin, the mayor of Dallas.
Nathan Delano Dean, a lifelong resident of Rockmart, died Saturday from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 79.
A funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First Baptist Church, Rockmart. Burial will follow in the family plot of Rose Hill Cemetery, Rockmart, with the West Georgia Masonic Memorial Club — of which he was a member — in charge of the Masonic graveside rites. Freeman Harris Funeral Home, Rockmart, is in charge of arrangements.
Dean’s son Alan Dean said his father worked “for the people every day no matter what the capacity, always making time for everybody.”
The elder Dean, an Army veteran, was a member of the Rockmart City Council for four years before being elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served for 12 years. He was later elected to the Georgia State Senate, where he worked for 30 more years. He announced his retirement in 2004.
Austin, who worked with Dean for several years, said the politician “never forgot those humble roots and the people that put him there.”
Even after he retired from the Legislature, Dean continued to serve. He became a member of the board for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, where he remained for six years.
Amos Sparks, a former Houston County commissioner who worked with Dean for almost 20 years, never saw the senator “run out of gas” when it came to his job.
“He could be in five cities in the same day,” Sparks said. “He was on the go every day, he knew the budget in and out — he was really on top of everything.”
In addition to his son, Dean is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Ann Carpenter Dean; another son, Scot Dean of Cedartown; one brother; four sisters; and three grandchildren.
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