Earl P. King

Feb. 25, 1926 - April 26, 2006

Feb. 25, 1926 - April 26, 2006

April 28, 2006

Earl P. "Dean" King, 80, of 9183 Iris Road, Plymouth, Ind., died at 4:47 p.m. on Wednesday, April 26, in the Hospice House of South Bend.

Earl was better-known to his friends as "Dean." He was born on February 25, 1926, and recently celebrated his 80th birthday with his wife, Joan, and son, Terry W., and daughter-in-law, Malinda, at his home in Plymouth.

Earl was born to parents, William F. and Matie P. Van Gundy King, in Tippecanoe, Ind. He was preceded in death by his parents; siblings, Carl, Arthur, Lowell and Mary; a stepson, Jim Huff; and most recently, Inez Neff, and his first wife, Bettie V. Kuhn King of 38 years, who died in 1984.

During his life, Earl attended school in Tippecanoe and loved his childhood in Tippecanoe. He spent many summers working in Chicago and staying with his aunt and uncle, Tom and Golda (Van Gundy) Devlin. He joined the Army in 1944 and spent most of his time during World War II in Europe. He returned to the states after World War II ended and married Bettie in August 1946. He retired from Bendix Corporation in 1976 and had lived in the Plymouth area for several years since retirement. He was a 50-year member of Bourbon American Legion Post #424 and was a 50-year member of Moose Lodge #741 of Plymouth.

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On March 4, 1985, he married Joan Jacabsen of Nappanee in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, and recently celebrated there 21st wedding anniversary.

Surviving family members include a son, Terry W. King, and daughter-in-law, Malinda; grandson, Travis W.; daughter, Deanna (Diane) Miller of Kodak, Tenn., and son-in-law, Les Miller; along with a special granddaughter, Heather Renee. Heather currently lives in Sevierville, Tenn., with nine of her special friends at the Mildred Miller Group Home.

He also has three stepchildren, Audrey and husband, Vince Fuch's of Nappanee, Cathy and husband, Bryan Wallace of Goshen, and Carl and wife, Erica Harman of Nappanee, along with eight step-grandchildren and two step-great-great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Dean's life will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 29, in the Deaton-Clemens Funeral Home, 115 S. Main Street, Bourbon, Indiana, with Chad Meister officiating.

The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Deaton-Clemons Funeral Home on Saturday.

Burial will be at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Bourbon, Ind., with military honors by the Bourbon American Legion.

Contributions in his memory may be made to Hospice or to the Mildred Miller Group Home, 1259 Llama Lane, Sevierville, TN 37876.