Worthington High Schools Alumni Club - Deceased Classmates
First Name
Fran
Maiden Name
Weidman
Last Name
Dean
Passing Date
8/17/2004
Class Attended
1963
High School
Worthington High School
It was part of Frances Dean's character, and her longtime career choice, to help strangers. So doting on those closest to her was only natural. Last week, hearing that Hurricane Charley had ripped through her parents' Port Charlotte, Fla., neighborhood, she packed up and drove with her son to help them. That effort ended in tragedy Monday night when a car in which she and her parents were passengers was hit at an intersection where the street light was inoperable because of the storm. All three were killed. Dean's parents -- Frank Weidman, 86, and Jean Weidman, 83 -- died instantly when the 2004 Cadillac their grandson Carlton Dean III was driving collided with a car driven by a 74-year-old Florida man. Mrs. Dean, 57, was critically injured and taken to a hospital. She died at 5 a.m. yesterday. Carlton Dean, 31, of Reynoldsburg, was treated and released from the hospital. The Florida man and a passenger in his car were injured. A part-time receptionist for Worthington City Schools, Dean was the first person to greet those entering the district's offices on E. Wilson Bridge Road. "She was full of energy, enthusiasm," said Assistant Superintendent Paul Cynkar. "She always had a good word and a smile for everyone who came through our building." Vicki Gnezda said Dean called her on Saturday to say she needed time off from work. "I said, 'You need to go take care of your parents,' " said Gnezda, Dean's boss. "She was loved and will be missed." Dean was a full-time administrative secretary for about 20 years before taking the part-time assignment. The Weidmans also had been longtime Columbus-area residents before moving to Florida about 20 years ago. Mrs. Dean graduated from Worthington High School in the 1950s and was married to Jim Dean for 39 years. They were planning a trip to Hawaii to celebrate Jim's 60th birthday later this year, said Peri Kuppusamy, the couple's next-door neighbor in New Albany. "She is absolutely a nice person, sweet person," he said. The Deans have three adult children, Kuppusamy said. Relatives had traveled to Florida and could not be reached last night. "She was very loving and caring," said Kyle Cahall, a New Albany resident and a former son-in-law of Mrs. Dean's. "She loved her grandkids beyond belief. It's definitely a loss to the family. She was their center." - Columbus Dispatch 8/18/2004
