Funeral services for Charles Otho Dean, Jr. of Leland will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 9, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Leland. He died Friday, January 5, 2024 at Delta Health-The Medical Center in Greenville. Burial will follow in the Leland-Stoneville Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Leland.
Charles was born in Greenville, Mississippi in 1930 to Charles Otho Dean and Geraldine Rousseau Dean of Leland. He graduated from Leland Public Schools with honors in mathematics and participated in and enjoyed all sports and also horses. He was an avid tennis player. Charles received a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. After graduation, he volunteered for the military but did not pass the physical eye examination. He then enrolled in the Murdoch School in Memphis, Tennessee for classing and marketing cotton. Upon completion of the course, he was employed by the McGee Dean Cotton Company in Leland and farmed at Rolling Bayou, Elizabeth ,and Tribbett, Mississippi. From 1959 through 1994 he served as managing partner of Panther Burn Company, a farm in Sharkey County, Mississippi. He also served as president of Big Panther Inc, a cotton gin and grain elevator division of Panther Burn Company. In 1995 he formed a partnership with his two sons, Dean Dean and Dean, and they farmed in Washington and Sharkey Counties.
Charles served as director of the Bank of Leland, The McGee Dean Cotton Company, the Leland Compress and Warehouse, and Mississippi Delta Council representing Leland. He was a trustee of the Witte Memorial Hospital, a member of the Leland Rotary Club, and a charter member of the Deer Creek Town and Racquet Club. He was a member of St John’s Episcopal Church.
Charles is survived by his wife of 69 years, Margaret Maney Dean, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at the time of their marriage; five children, Margaret Dean Cope (Bubba), Marcella Dean LaFoe (Wilson), Charles Crawford Dean (Becky), Robert Rousseau Dean (Mitzi) and Elizabeth Dean Webb (Richard); a sister, Eloise Dean Cumbaa and eight grandchildren; and twelve great-grandchildren.
A visitation will be held at the church one hour before services on Tuesday, January 9. Memorials may be made to St. John’s Episcopal Church, Leland, Mississippi or the University of Mississippi Medical Center designated for research in Macular Degeneration.