Dean Everett Thompson (1928-2019)
A short post to remember my friend Dean who died two years ago today. He was almost ninety-years old.
I got to know Dean about five or six years ago. As a retiree, he spent his mornings at the Starbucks on Antioch in Overland Park, Kansas. I first met him when standing in line for coffee and I helped him figure out his new iPhone. Gradually, we became friends and I had coffee with him most weekday mornings. We called his crew of admirers the FoD – Friends of Dean. Through Dean, a disparate group of people with a love for coffee got to know and care for each other and we remained close until the pandemic shut down Starbucks indoor seating.
Dean and his twin brother Gene were born in Claypool, Indiana on 12 July 1928. He worked for Amoco Corporation (now British Petroleum) for thirty-two years and his fervent wish was that he be retired as long as he had worked (he almost made it). Through his work with Amoco, Dean traveled the world and the stories he told were endlessly fascinating. How he came to settle in Overland Park for his retirement isn’t entirely clear to me, although I suspect love had something to do of it.
Dean was quite the collector of modern art and bestowed many pieces to the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at Johnson County Community College. In his advanced age, he became an artist when his friend Susan taught him how to die silk scarves. I am the proud owner of a beautiful Dean original.
While we disagreed on politics,[1] Dean and I spent many a morning talking about life and love – sometimes laughing and sometimes crying. He adored his late brother and was especially close to his father. For his birthday one year, we had a party at Starbucks and I presented him with a family history I had done for him. While there are a lot of pictures of Dean, his friends, and some of his ancestors on the website for the Johnson County Chapel where he is interred, the one I’ve chosen is how I remember him best – in his hat (which he wore 365 days a year) and puffy coat.
Miss you Dean.
[1] Sadly, he was a Fox “News” devotee and it corrupted his brain. I remember him telling me that there was no way Bill O’Reilly would ever be fired. LOL
