Obituary of Linda Mae Dean
Linda Mae Dean, aged 83 of Glen Mills, passed away on July 20, 2020 at Rose Court at Maris Grove. Born to Lester and Helen Congdon Durfee in Rutland, VT, Linda was raised in Mattapoisett, MA. She has lived in the Maris Grove community since 2007, previously residing in Allentown, PA, Hamden, CT, Munsey, NY, Westfield, NJ and Brookline, MA. Linda graduated from Middlebury College in 1958 with an AB degree in English. Following college, she taught high school English at Needham H.S. in Needham, MA. Later, she pursued her love of writing and penned columns for the Emmaus Free Press in Emmaus, PA and the Allentown Morning Call.
She was devoted to her faith and was a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Chester, PA. She also kept an affiliate membership with the Mattapoisett Congregational Church where she was raised and married, and the Kirkwood Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, FL where she maintained her winter home. Linda loved choir music and was active in the church choirs in both Bradenton, FL and Allentown, PA, and she sang in the choir at Maris Grove. She also loved to attend the many concerts and festivals of the Bethlehem Bach Choir with her husband Sheldon, who is a member of the Board of Managers of the Bach Choir. The theater was another strong interest for Linda, and she had a talent for directing. She acted in and directed several plays with the drama group at the First Presbyterian Church of Allentown and acted with the Players Group at Maris Grove.
Linda had a passion for education and her alma mater Middlebury benefited from her efforts to help fundraise for the college. She also served as an Alumni Class Agent and surrogate interviewer for their admissions office locally in the Allentown area, helping prospective students there who were unable to visit the campus to complete the college's interview requirement. She believed in the benefits of Greek life on campus and was active with her college sorority, Pi Beta Phi, throughout her life. She helped to found and assist a chapter of "Pi Phi" at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, as well as meet with sorority sisters in Florida during her winters there.
She was also very active in politics through the 1970's and 80's, rising to become the President of the Republican Woman's Club of Hamden, CT, and later served as a liaison with the press for the Republican party in Allentown, writing press releases during the 1980 presidential campaign. It was in that capacity that she would meet and form a correspondence relationship with future First Lady, Barbara Bush.
She volunteered with the Visiting Nurses' Association Auxiliary in Allentown, PA, where she and a core group of volunteers began and ran the wildly successful "Celebrity Luncheons" program. She formed many long-lasting friendships and met a host of different celebrities working in the Auxiliary's efforts to raise money for the VNA.
Linda was very devoted to her husband Sheldon and to their marriage, and together they were active in the National Marriage Encounter organization. They served as a team couple on many Marriage Encounter Weekend programs, helping couples to enrich their marriages. They eventually rose to serve on the National Board of National Marriage Encounter, and through their experiences and leadership there made many friends around the country. They had the opportunity to meet and work with the Catholic priest who founded the National Marriage Encounter movement, Father John Calvo.
At the end of her life, Linda wanted to make sure everyone knew that she loved them very much and that she had a good life. Linda is survived by her husband, Sheldon W. Dean Jr; 3 children, Sheldon W. (Valerie) Dean III, William Durfee Dean and Cynthia L. Dean Spalding; her sister Lorine Durfee Hagar; 5 Grandchildren, Walter Dean, William C. Dean, Tyler Dean, James Dean Spalding and Ryan Elizabeth Spalding; and great-granddaughter Natalie Dean. Funeral services will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the "Middlebury College, Class of 1958 Student Assistance Fund," which Linda helped to found. Checks can be sent to: Middlebury College, Gift Administration, 700 Exchange Street, Middlebury College, VT 05753. Please write "in memory of Linda M. Dean" in the memo line. Or make donations online to www.engage.middlebury.edu/give. Online condolences may be made by visiting www.paganofuneralhome.com.
