Roger Dean, who spent decades building a multistate auto empire and whose name is attached to a spring-training baseball stadium in Jupiter, died on Saturday at his Palm Beach home. He was 79.
Those who did business with him said he was an aggressive yet fair businessman.
“He was a good guy,” said Florida Highway Patrol Cpl. Bob Borman, who worked part-time for Mr. Dean in the 1980s. “He was fair, but he was hard.”
Mr. Dean’s daughters, Patty and Janie, bought him a special Christmas gift in 1996. They spent a reported $1 million for the right to name the new spring-training stadium in Jupter after him. The Montreal Expos and St. Louis Cardinals now train at Roger Dean Stadium.
Mr. Dean, who owned Roger Dean Chevrolet in West Palm Beach, started 52 years ago with a Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Athens, Ohio. He switched to General Motors in 1955 when Ford wouldn’t let him expand any more, according to Automotive News.
He came to Florida from West Virginia, where he was a cosmetics salesman, said Harper A. Clark, who owned Clark Oldsmobile. It was here in Florida where Mr. Dean was most successful, said Clark, a resident of West Palm Beach.
“He was always nice to me and friendly,” said Clark, who competed with Mr. Dean for several years. “I found him to always fulfill his commitments.”
Mr. Dean’s holdings include whole or partial interest in 21 auto dealerships in South Florida and four states, Renato’s restaurant in Palm Beach and a second upscale restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens. He also owned two yachts worth $4.8 million, the grand penthouse at Trump Towers, a $5 million oceanfront estate in Palm Beach and shares in the Palm Beach Yacht Club.
Mr. Dean was not one who liked to talk about his business.
“I don’t seek self-aggrandizement,” he said in a 1987 interview with the Sun-Sentinel.
Despite the hundreds of people he employed, Mr. Dean took the time to learn their names and dealt with them as individuals, Borman said.
“He never forgot your name,” Borman said. “Whenever he talked to you, he always knew your name, and that was impressive.”
While many knew Mr. Dean through his business dealings, few knew about his personal life until an ugly divorce from his second wife, Ruth Dean, in 1993.
Mr. Dean met Ruth Dean in West Virginia, where she worked as a switchboard operator at one of his dealerships. They married in 1969. The marriage ended 24 years later. The divorce included allegations of adultery and theft and a bitter dispute over Mr. Dean’s wealth, which he estimated at $50 million but his wife said was twice that amount.
Mr. Dean is survived by two daughters, Patty and Janie, both from his first marriage. Funeral arrangements are pending. Officials at Quattlebaum-Holleman-Burse Funeral Home said the family is waiting on relatives to arrive from out of town.
C. Ron Allen can be reached at or 561-243-6611.
