BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. — As students return from spring break this week, one Bartow County High School is coming back to heartbreak after learning of the sudden passing of a beloved teacher and coach.
Cass High School posted on Facebook last week that Joey Dean had died.
“He was gentle and strong. He was loyal. He was funny. He was faithful. And he loved this school with everything he had,” the school said about Dean in their post.
It said that he was “part of the heartbeat of Cass High School.”
Dean taught agriculture at the school and was a graduate of Cass High in 1997.
In 2021, he was named Cass High School’s “Teacher of the Year.”
“My favorite part of this calling is helping give students life skills and strategies that they may not find readily in their lives. I want to make each generation better than mine,” Dean said at the time.
Dean said teaching and mentoring kept him going.
“I realized that I had something to offer our youth,” Dean said. “And also, that I stayed young, surrounding myself with young people.”
Since the school posted Dean’s passing on Facebook, dozens of former students and loved ones shared their memories of him.
“Dean was the best and most kindhearted soul I’ve ever met. Truly one of a kind and no one could ever replace him,” Jade Akers posted.
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“Coach Dean always had faith in me, never gave up on me, and gave me that extra push to keep me going, in school, and in life,” Zach Mathison posted. “I hate I couldn’t show him gratitude for the things he taught me, without teaching me. Even if the results weren’t visible right away.”
“Joey was truly one of those rare people who made the world brighter just by being in it — always smiling, so kind, and just hilarious,” Lisa Carroll DiPrima said about Dean.
The more than 130 comments all had similar stories and memories of Dean.
According to his online obituary, funeral arrangements are still being finalized.
Dean leaves behind a wife and daughter.
“Cass High will never be quite the same without him, but we will carry his memory, his heart for kids, and the example he set for all of us forward. Once a Colonel, always a Colonel! Rest easy, Joey. You were deeply loved, and you always will be,” the school said, closing out their post about Dean.
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