Constance K. Dean, 94, writer

Constance K. Dean, 94, of Gladwyne, a journalist who later became a publicist, died Tuesday, Dec. 30, of influenza at Lankenau Hospital.

An Overbrook native, Mrs. Dean graduated from Overbrook High School in 1938 and earned a bachelor of science degree in commerce from Temple University's School of Communications in 1942.

Mrs. Dean began her career by working for International News Service, founded by publisher William Randolph Hearst. She was based in Philadelphia, from which her news and feature stories went out on the wire and appeared in newspapers, journals and periodicals.

Daughter Constance E. Dean said a keen intellect, leadership ability, and an engaging smile made her mother successful in journalism long before women were routinely accepted.

"That smile was ever-present, and her interest in people," Constance E. Dean said. "She always spoke about how she loved working."

After marrying Kenneth R. Dean in 1949, she took a break from her profession to raise a family in Philadelphia and then Wynnewood.

Mrs. Dean served as an officer in several home and school associations, and volunteered in the local civic association in Philadelphia.

She returned to her profession after her children were grown, working at the Philadelphia office of the Census Bureau. In the 1980s, she worked as a public relations manager in the public affairs office of the Army Corps of Engineers.

She wrote articles about the corps, which maintains the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and the Delaware River navigation channel. Her responsibilities also included crafting employee communications.

Mrs. Dean and her husband retired on the same day in 1989. They pursued their love of vintage automobiles and enjoyed taking some of their own prizewinning examples to car shows.

Kenneth Dean died in 2005. Three years later, Mrs. Dean moved to Waverly Heights, Gladwyne.

Surviving, besides her daughter, are son Jerome F. and three grandsons.

Services were Monday, Jan. 5.

Memorial donations may be made to the Dean Family Endowed Scholarship, payable to Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, 601 Franklin Bldg., 3451 Walnut St., Philadelphia 19104.