Margaret (Betty) Elizabeth Dean was granted her angel wings on April 5, 2022. Betty was born on March 27, 1931 and just recently celebrated her 91st birthday. Her final days were spent surrounded by family and friends that Betty had touched in some small way throughout her very memorable life in St. Mary’s County, MD.
Betty married her late husband Lemuel Caleb Dean on September 14, 1948. Betty was a homemaker, babysitter, and housekeeper. She was the adopted daughter of the late Elwood and Mary Schaffer. In addition to her late parents and husband, she is preceded in death by seven siblings, Paul Schaffer, Fred Schaffer, James Bernard Russell, Sidney Lewis Russell, William Claude Russell, Albert John Russell, and Mary Russell Quade.
Surviving Betty are her five children, Diane Elizabeth Standish (John) of Mechanicsville, MD, Wendy Louise Wright (Ken) of Sandusky, OH, Yvonne Carol Dean of Kensington, MD, Gerald Elwood Dean (Cynthia) of Mechanicsville, MD, and Dale Robert Dean (Debbie) of Mechanicsville, MD. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, and 21 great-great-grandchildren. Betty was preceded in death by her grandson, Gene Aloysius Cusic, Jr., and great-grandson, Steven Allen Cusic, Jr.
Betty loved her sports! She played women’s slow pitch softball for Murphy’s IGA Team for many summers. She played right field and then became one of their pitchers and won many games for them. She was a big Baltimore Orioles fan and never missed a game on TV. Then there was tennis that she followed for many years, enjoying watching the Williams sisters play. One of the most important sports was watching her sons, Jerry and Dale, play horseshoes for the Men’s Horseshoe League. When Betty wasn’t keeping up with her sports, she loved her flower garden, with the many birds that visited her feeders she hung in her yard. One of her favorite past times was sitting on her front porch, as friends would pass and honk their horns to say hello. Her family and friends were always greeted with her special iced tea. No one could duplicate Betty’s tea; it was the best! During the days, Betty loved to watch her favorite TV shows, “Let’s Make A Deal”, “The Price Is Right”, and most of all, “The Young and the Restless” soap opera which she had watched since the beginning in 1973. Of course, there were many family gatherings through the years that were to special to her heart as she watched her family grow.
The family will receive friends for Betty’s Life Celebration on Monday, April 11, 2022 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, 41590 Fenwick Street, Leonardtown, MD, with prayers recited at 7:00 PM. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Mount Zion United Methodist Church, 27108 Mt. Zion Church Road, Mechanicsville, MD, with Pastor Steve Humphrey officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Betty’s grandsons David Hayden, Sr., Steven Cusic, Sr., Jeremy Dean, and Ronnie Cusic and her great-grandsons David Hayden, Jr. and Dale Vallandingham. Honorary pallbearers will be Christopher Council and Jeffrey Council, along with Glenn Buckler.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625, Leonardtown, MD 20650.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.mgfh.com.
Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home and Cremation Services, P.A., Leonardtown, MD.
