December 18, 1927 ~ February 7, 2020 – (age 92)Dean Floyd Nielsen passed away on Friday, February 7, 2020 in Tremonton, Utah of age-related complications. He was 92. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and was endowed in the Salt Lake Temple and sealed to Barbara in 1990.
Dean was born on December 18, 1927 to Sylvester J. and Jennie M. Hansen Nielsen in Magna, Utah. He was one of seven children. They lost both parents while some of the children were still young and were raised by the older siblings.
Dean was a member of the Naval Reserves and the National Guard over an 8 year period.
He married Betty Jean Sommerville. They had one son, Dennis, and then divorced.
He Married Barbara J. Anderson and they had three sons: Donald, David, and Darrell (David and Donald died in infancy). They spent most of their married years in California where Dean worked at McClellan Air Force Base and other places. They moved back to Utah to be closer to family here in the early 80’s. Barbara passed away in 1984.
He married Idella Whitaker in 1991 and gained many more family members—numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren were loved and cherished by them. Dean and Della traveled extensively around the United States, sometimes with Dean’s brother, Grant, and his wife, Joye. They would drive out to Wendover as often as they could, taking a couple of Della’s friends with them. They referred to themselves as the “Wendover Bunch.” Idella passed away in March of 2015. That loss was very hard for him to deal with at times. He missed her very much but stayed close to many of her family members, especially grandchildren.
Dean enjoyed reading and collected many books over the years. He also enjoyed baseball (go, Dodgers), watching “western” movies (with John Wayne being one of his favorite actors). He learned to play the guitar in his 70’s. He later had to give up playing because arthritis twisted his fingers so badly that he couldn’t place them on the strings correctly.
Dean loved being around people and visiting with others… teasing the waitresses at the restaurants was one of his favorite things. He was always up for a trip to eat at Chuck-A-Rama. Walks, word puzzles, coloring, drawing, eating lunch at the Tremonton Senior Citizen Center (where they “watched him like a hawk” according to Dean) were some of the things that he filled his time with in his later days. The staff at the senior center did look out for him and tried to make sure he stayed safe no matter what he was doing. He also liked to eat breakfast at McDonald’s as often as he could. He gave up driving and sold his beloved car last year and often spoke of how much he missed being able to drive himself around.
Dean is survived by two sons, Dennis (Gloria) and Darrell; grandchildren—Dawna, Artie, Michael, Michelle; great-grandchildren—Dillan, Devree, Daylee, and Zachary; great-great-grandson—Ledger; numerous step-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by one brother, Grant. He was preceded in death by parents, siblings: Wanda, Juanita, Darrell, Evelyn, and Gladys; sons—Donald and David.
Funeral services will be held Friday, February 14, 2020 11:00am at Myers Mortuary, 5865 South 1900 West, Roy, Utah with a viewing prior from 10:00 – 10:45am. Interment will be in the Salt Lake City Cemetery at 200 “N” Street in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at myers-mortuary.com