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.
“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 Jupiter 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 out 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 in Florida that Mr. Dean was most successful, said Clark, of West Palm Beach.
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.
Mr. Dean is survived by his two daughters, both from his first marriage. Services will be Thursday at 12:55 p.m. at Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal Church in Palm Beach.
