Dean M. Fitterer, 71, Dickinson, passed away on Sunday, June 25, 2023, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Dean’s Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m., Friday, June 30, 2023 at Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Dickinson with Msgr. Thomas Richter as celebrant. Interment will take at St. Mary’s Cemetery, New England. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday at Ladbury Funeral Service, Dickinson with a St. Pius Verein Rosary and Vigil at 7 p.m. with Deacon Leonard Krebs presiding. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church.  

Dean M. Fitterer was born on December 5, 1951 to Fidelis and Katheryne (Hauck) Fitterer, the 12^th child in a family of 13. Dean grew up on the family farm west of New England. He attended all 12 grades at St. Mary School in New England, graduating in 1969. He went on to attend Dickinson State College for one year and then decided to go back to the family farm to work with his brother.

On July 26, 1974, Dean married Mary Jane Huck at St. Pius Church in Schefield and to this union two boys and two girls were born. They lived a short time east of Schefield and then moved back on to the family farm where they continued with dairy and farming.

Dean rented out the farm in 1999 to Wert Farms, and then went to work for them which allowed him to continue farming his own land.

In 2018, Mary talked Dean into moving to Dickinson and at this time Dean went into full retirement to do more golfing. In 2021 Dean was diagnosed with cancer.

He was a member of St. Pius Verein, Knights of Columbus and the Eagles. 

Dean is survived by his wife, Mary, and four children and ten grandchildren: Thomas, and his children, Marcus and Ella, Williston; Karen Klimpel and her daughter Annabelle, Dickinson; Corey (Nichole), and his boys, Logan, Kyler, Dillon, Zachery, Preston, Dickinson; Jennifer (Michael) Hanel and their boys, Brady and Braxton, Dickinson; brothers, John (Dorothy) and Leroy (Sharon), New Ulm, MN, Fid (Lillian), Great Falls, MT; Paul (Dorothy), Dickinson and Allen (Arlene), Dickinson, Clem (Teresa), Denver, CO; Roger (Sonja), Troy, IL; sisters, Marlene (Jerry) Wagner, Billings, MT; and Irene Purcell, OK; and sister-in-law, Mag Fitterer.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Leo and Francis; and one sister, Delores. 

Flowers are thoughtful, but donating to St Jude’s Children Hospital is beautiful.