Page 41 - November 2021

A family man
When Dean lost the election for a second term, he quipped that it was the first night in three years that he had turned off his cell phone. Casiano shared how much he loved to see Dean’s burst of energy, and the source of it was his family and his be- loved wife, Claudia. When another request from the media came for an interview, when a member called at midnight, when the board ran into those moments of fracturing, anybody who was in the room to see it knew it was Claudia who motivated Dean to keep it together.
Dean and Claudia are blessed to perpetuate one of the great police families in Chicago. Of their four children – Dean Jr., Dominic, Amanda and Michelle – Dean Jr. and Amanda, who works in 019, have carried on the legacy. Interestingly, Aman- da wears star #11107, which Patrick and Dean both wore. When Dean made detective, he had star #20929, and Dean Jr. wore that button when he was a detective.
After retiring, much of Dean’s time was filled enjoying his grandchildren. Dean Jr.’s son, Dean, has become quite the hock- ey player and loved having his grandfather accompany him to practices and games.
And so Dean’s loss hits with a thud. He had such a lasting im-
pact on anybody who had at least five minutes to sit face to face with him. But it was never five minutes, because Dean could go on telling stories forever. And listening to those was a privilege.
When Catanzara heard that Dean’s illness had taken a tragic turn, he reached out to let Lodge 7 Magazine know that a tribute story would be needed. You could hear the sorrow in his voice.
It’s only fitting that this report serves as what hopefully is a proper tribute to Dean. There would be no Lodge 7 Magazine without Dean. During a meeting in the summer of 2015, he sug- gested turning the longtime FOP newsletter into this full-color, glossy magazine. For the first year or so, he designed many of the magazine covers himself, always wanting to offer a venue to spotlight and showcase the work members did so majestically. Like everything he did, this magazine was always to be all about the members.
So suffice to say, Dean, we join every member going back to 1980, leaders of the business community, members of the me- dia, elected officials from Chicago to the White House and the thousands who had the good fortune to say they knew the old man in celebrating how much you did for all of us.
We will forever look up to you.
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2021 41