Dale D. Dean, Sr.

Dale D. Dean, Sr., 76, of Berrien Center, died Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, at Spectrum Health Lakeland in St. Joseph.

Visitation will be from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at Allred Funeral Home in Berrien Springs. Graveside services will be private. Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Messages and memories may be shared online at www.allredfuneralhome.com.

Dale was born May 3, 1943, and he was a lifelong farmer and heavy equipment operator with the CB call name “Trash Masher”. He was a well-known John Deere tractor restorer and collector. He restored tractors from all over the world and shared his love of them with his great-grandson. He had a strong work ethic and was a jack of all trades. Everything he knew, he taught himself; and if you told him he couldn’t do something, he would do it just to prove you wrong. He lived on the Dean Farm his whole life and in the last years ran it as a Christmas tree farm. He enjoyed being a part of people’s Christmas traditions and seeing them year after year.

Dale loved snowmobiling, motorcycling, and mushroom hunting. He enjoyed going for Gator rides with his daughter and spending time with his great-grandkids. He often kept tabs on everyone through his wife. He loved and cared for his family very deeply.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 58 years, Mary Jane Dean; son, Dale Dean Jr.; daughter, Cheri Dean; granddaughter, Lia Center (Peter Center); grandson, Dale Dean III (Shaun Johnson); and great-grandkids, Greydon Dean, Dale Dean IV, Nathanial Center, and Harmony Center.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Dalton Dean; grandson, Dalton Dean; and parents, Dorr and Grace Dean.