Dean Logan

1926 - 2023

Dean (Byron) Logan

September 10, 1926 - April 13, 2023

Dean Byron Logan, 96, of Hickory, passed away Thursday, April 13, 2023 at Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory. He was a husband, father, business man, outdoorsman, skier, cowboy and fisherman, went on to the Lord this Thursday the 13th of April. Born September 10, 1926 in Rome, Ga., he was the son of the late Holbert and Sophie Powell Logan. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Charleen Starnes Logan; a son, Christopher Powell Logan; brother, William Powell Logan; a half-brother, Barry Logan and a step-brother, Henry R. Smith. Byron grew up in Asheville until the family moved to Lenoir during his teen years. He drove a school bus for Oak Hill High School, where he met his bride to be, Charleen Starnes Logan, on her daily rides to Oak Hill School. When the war in the Pacific broke out, Byron, 17 at the time, joined the Navy in 1944 after misstating his age. He was assigned to a Navy mine sweeper the USS Merlot. He served three years and was part of the cleanup of mines in the area surrounding Japan and was part of the occupying force in Sasebo, Japan. He established Carolina Office Equipment in 1950 in the Arcade off Trade Alley. In 1952 he added his brother Powell. He and Powell were natural salesmen. Carolina Office Equipment continued to grow and moved to a larger store, the old location of Hickory Auto Parts on 1st Ave. They continued to expand and added another location on 4th St. NW, which was the old Colonial store location for the purpose of selling machines and furniture. The office supply and gift location remained on 1st. Ave. In 1982, he was able to join the two locations together under one roof on 2nd Ave., where he built a new store. It is now occupied by Bumbargers OF/USA which moved in the old over Carolina Office Equipment. Sons Kim, Rance and Joe worked at the store. Byron continued to work through his 94th year, doing what he has always loved, selling and meeting the fine people of the unifour area. Byron was a very active person, who loved the outdoors and for many years enjoyed fly fishing, snow skiing, camping, hiking, and horseback riding. He and Charleen in their later years, went just about every Sunday, to the mountains. There she attended church at Rumple Presbyterian. After church, they would walk or Byron would ride his horse on the Combs Estate. Byron would fish or ride his horse and enjoyed eating ice cream and meeting people in the park or on the street in Blowing Rock. Byron was an active reader and especially loved history, biographies of great men and women, as well as war stories about the men and women of those wars. Being a veteran of WWII, he used his hobby of horseback riding to ride his horse in parades dressed as a WWI Calvary Officer. He also loved the history of the west and had an Indian Outfit made by a Native American woman in Montana, so he could ride in parades as an Indian Chief and throw candy to the children. He also fulfilled his dreams of being a cowboy and went west to ride in the last cattle drive from Billings to Bozeman known as "The Last Great Cattle Drive". Trout fishing and hiking in the mountains was another passion. When he and Charleen would go up to the mountains on Sundays and he didn't pull the horse up they would take Hwy. 221 and hike up onto Grandfather Mountain. Byron most often carried his fishing rod on these trips and would take off and catch fish. He would swing back and meet up with Charleen and head over to the park on the Blue Ridge Parkway, break out the Coleman stove and fry up some fish he had caught earlier before calling it a day. Byron was a charter member in Elk River Falls Fishing Club and a longtime member of Trout Unlimited. Being a member in the Club allowed him to fish the private waters of the Elk River. Byron was a 5K runner, winning over 500 medals. He was also very active in the Special Olympics and Senior Games. One of his greatest achievements was coming in 2nd place in Birmingham, AL for 90 years old and above. He is survived by his sons: Kim Logan of Hickory, Rance Logan and fiance Laura Sparkman of Hickory, Joe Logan and wife Cherry of Hickory; granddaughters, Sally Logan Day and husband Dustin of Vale, Blair Logan of Boca Raton, FL; grandson, Lane Logan of Raleigh; great-granddaughter, Beau Day of Vale; great-grandson, Wilkes Day of Vale; nephews, Dann Sherrill of Nashville, Phillip Sherrill of Cornelius; and numerous cousins. A service to celebrate Byron's life will be held at 1 p.m, Friday, April 21, 2023 at Corinth Reformed Church with the Rev. Lori Blocker officiating. The family will receive friends following the service at the church. The family would like to thank Dr. Shane Summers and the staff of Catawba Valley Medical Center and for their care of Byron. Memorials may be sent to Carolina Caring, 3975 Robinson Road, Newton, NC 28658.