Russell Wayne Dean

Russell W Dean
Ephraim, UT

Russell Wayne Dean, 80,  passed away on March 15, 2021 due to a fall, broken leg, and heart failure.   Russell was born in Beaver, Utah, on February 28, 1941 to Wallace Russell and Elizabeth Baldwin Dean.  He was the oldest of 4 boys:  Robert Allen-deceased (Rita Hatch) of Beaver, Gordon Ray (Catherine Johnson) of Cedar City, Gary Bruce (Gae Rasmussen) of Fillmore.  He is preceded in death by his parents and brother.  He loved sports and excelled in football, basketball and track.  Russell attended Utah State University in Logan and College of Southern Utah in Cedar City.  In 1960, he joined the Utah Army National Guard, 222 Field Artillery in Beaver and served for 6 years.  His unit was sent to Puerto Rico, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

He met Kathleen Hart from Bloomington, Idaho in 1961 at USU.  They were married in August, 1962 in the Logan Temple and were blessed with six children:  Angie (Mark Hugentobler) of Ephraim, Eric Russell (Janeen Moore) of Santaquin, Kurt James of Ephraim, Allison (Marty Evers) living in Italy, Michael Wayne (Melanie Omer) of Taylorsville, Matthew Hart (Paris Wilson) of Logan. His hobbies were water coloring, leatherwork & fishing.

Russell graduated from USU in 1965, taught school for 4 years and then returned to USU for a master’s degree.  In 1978, he was hired as the Director of Snow College Library and Media Services and later Dean of Library and Information Services.   He was instrumental in bringing the first computer lab and testing service on campus and worked with a donor to create an instructional media services center.  Among his many accomplishments, he taught an instructional media class for Weber State College Teacher Education Program at Snow.  He also assisted with planning and implementing the standardization of library automation for the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) and with the approval of the UALC worked directly with the legislature to secure funds to provide students at Snow College with resources on par with many research institutions. He was a 12-year cancer survivor (Down Winder - Beaver, Utah).  Russell and Kathleen have 15 grandchildren and  5+ great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 11:00 am in the Ephraim Stake Center, 400 East Center, where friends may call on Friday, from 6:00 – 7:00 pm and on Saturday from 9:30-10:30 am.  Live streaming of the services and online guestbook can be found at www.maglebymortuary.com  under Russell’s obituary.  Due to COVID-19, all attendees must wear a mask and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Funeral Directors: Magleby Mortuary, Richfield, Salina and Manti.