Betty V. Dean

DEAN BETTY VEIT DEAN Betty Veit Dean, retired Montgomery County school teacher, and member of Grace Episcopal Church in Silver Spring, MD for over 60 years, died at her home in Silver Spring on October 28, 2010. She was born in 1931 in San Diego, CA to Fritz and Virginia Gleim. She graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 1949, and from Penn State University in 1953, receiving a BA in Education. As the daughter of a naval officer stationed in Hawaii in 1941, she was an eyewitness to Japanese planes flying over her house on their bombing approach to Pearl Harbor. The planes were so low that she could see the pilots' faces in the cockpit. Because of her father's career and the war, she moved frequently, living in eleven different places before she started high school in Silver Spring. In 1954, she married Dr. H. Robert Veit, who was the Liaison for State Superintendent to Local School Systems in the Maryland State Department of Education at the time of his death in 1979. She and her husband lived in the Washington area for most of their married life, with the exception of two short job-related relocations to Aiken, SC and Elkhart, IN. In Aiken, Betty accepted a teaching position at the local minority elementary school, and worked hard, in and out of the classroom, to help her needy students. Her career with the Montgomery County Public Schools spanned 30 years, in which she taught physical education to elementary school students in dozens of schools. She retired in 1995. Betty was a devoted member of Grace Church, serving on the vestry and as Senior Warden. She initiated many outreach ministries over the years, and was known as a compassionate servant leader of the church. Her involvement in social ministries was not limited to church. She was a board member of Ministries United Silver Spring/Takoma Park (MUSST), volunteered at Colesville Meals on Wheels, and served at Shepherd's Table for 27 years. Her activities over the years included Girl Scout Leader, National Park lover, traveler, bridge player, crossword puzzle aficionado, rug braider, and raccoon feeder. She is survived by her husband of 26 years, Stephen A. Dean, her daughters Kathryn Huston (Kenneth), Elizabeth Balderrama (Vincent), Christine Sniegowski (John) and Jennifer Welsh (William), her grandchildren, Kenneth and Virginia Huston, Michael Balderrama, Meaghan and Matthew Sniegowski, and Grayson and Logan Welsh. She is also survived by a sister, Gretchen Schwoebel of Glenmoore, PA, three nieces and a nephew. Services will be held at Grace Episcopal Church, 1607 Grace Church Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20910, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 6, 2010. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Grace Church Endowment Fund, or Shepherd's Table, 8210 Colonial Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20910.Services will be held at Grace Episcopal Church, 1607 Grace Church Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20910, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 6, 2010. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Grace Church Endowment Fund, or Shepherd's Table, 8210 Colonial Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20910.