Elbert Dean, Sr.
Maintenance, Carpentry
Grandpa was very proud of the children's furniture he made. He worked maintenance at the state school for the mentally handicapped on the east side of Abilene.
Our grandfather was a very hard worker on the farm and was also a a very good woodworker. I remember when he lived in Abilene and had a woodworking shop in his backyard. He custom built various projects for people. He purchased one of the Shop Smith saws that has all of the attachments to do everything. Jack has it in his shop now. One Christmas he built little stools for all the grandchildren. (David Riney)
(Following are recollections by grandson Grady Jaynes)
Grandpa Dean almost always had a pipe in his mouth. I never saw him light the pipe and smoke it. He just almost always had it in his mouth or his hand. Thinking back it seemed to be more of a nervous habit than anything else.
Grandpa Dean made wooden stools. I think he gave them to his kids. The one he gave my Mother was about ten inches tall and about ten inches long and maybe twelve inches wide. It was painted a tan color and had a vinyl, padded top. The top was stuffed with padding and the perimeter of the cover was held down with decorative brass colored brads.
We moved from Texas in 1952 when I was about eight years old. Sometime during each summer when we had a big rainstorm and it was too wet to work in the field we would pack up and go to Texas for a visit. We always made it a point to visit Grandpa Dean and Myrtle.
Around this time Grandpa Dean and Myrtle were living in Abilene, Texas on a street named Butternut. The house had a high pitched gable roof and a large high concrete porch. The house had two front doors. It may have been a duplex and someone converted it to a single dwelling home. The trees along the street were very large. In the later years them lived in a housing complex.
Way out back near the alley Grandpa Dean had his wood working shop. It was painted a pale green and had a wooden step near the door. It was built very close to the ground. Just the opposite of the house. I think he had added the shop. Inside were work benches and cabinets along several walls. The floor was so clean you could have eaten off of it. Any time I visited the shop I never saw any sawdust or scrap wood. All of his hand tools were stored in cabinets with doors. The doors were painted the same color as the outside of the shop. The only power tool I ever saw was what I later came to know as a "Shop Smith."
Miss Lillie Dean
810 North Winnetca Street, Dallas, Texas
11-18-41, Dearest Aunt Lillie,
We are sending you some pictures we made of Mr. & Mrs. Dean. Mr. Dean did not know that we made this picture of him. He was whittling on a small piece of wood and listening to some of the son-in-laws talk. I think this is a typical pose and likeness of him.
Love, Buster & Pauleen
Elbert Dean, Whittling, 1941
