In Memoriam
Rita Dean
1932 – 2019
Rita Jacqueline (Williams) Dean was born in 1932 in Fall River, Massachusetts, to Regina and Joseph Williams. She attended B.M.C. Durfee High School in Fall River, where she wrote radio features for the school. It was there that a young man caught her eye. She devised a reason to interview Jim Dean in order to get to know him. They married in 1952.
Rita graduated from Thibodeau Business College in 1951 and moved with her family to the Washington, DC area in 1956. What followed was a life defined not by ambition for herself, but by generosity toward everyone around her.
“Arriving at Rita’s home, visitors were greeted with open arms. It didn’t matter whether you were a lifelong friend or an immigrant fleeing a revolution who had just moved into the neighborhood.”
When her third son was young, Rita volunteered at a daycare nowhere near her home — and brought her son with her. She wanted to be sure he grew up with friends who didn’t look like him and who came from different backgrounds. Rita always made sure visitors felt that they belonged. She always got to know people.
After a contractor working on her home told her about the grief he was enduring after the death of his child, Rita began volunteering with the newly formed Haven of Northern Virginia — an organization helping the seriously ill, the dying, and the bereaved. She became their Director of Public Relations and joined their Board of Directors.
Always promoting others instead of herself, she handled public relations for various charities and for her husband Jim’s art career. With her support and advocacy, his artwork was displayed at the National Gallery of Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, placed on several United States postage stamps, and entered the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
Rita had a long battle with vascular dementia. She slowly faded, but always a bit of her remained if one could find the way to connect with her. In a routine dementia examination near the end of her life, she was asked: “Who is the President of the United States?”
She answered: “I can’t remember his name, but I know that I don’t like him.”
Rita passed away on January 2, 2019, in Annandale, Virginia, at age 86.
Survived By
Her husband of 66 years, Jim Dean · Her sons Rick Dean (Diane) and Steve Dean (Eddie Rangel) · Three grandchildren: Laura, Scott, and Eric · A great-grandson · Her greatly loved cat, Midnight
She was preceded in death by her son James.
The memorial service was private.
