Dean Clair Schroeder, was born near Preston in Plymouth County, Iowa, on July 8, 1935; one of four children of Fred August and Cleo Dorothea (Collmann) Schroeder. He grew up on a farm near Hartley, Iowa, and received his early education through the country school system, graduating from Hartley High School with the class of 1953.

    From March 1954 through December of 1957, Dean served his country with the United States Navy during the Korean Conflict. Following his honorable discharge, he returned home and enrolled at South Dakota State University located in Brookings, South Dakota.

    On February 27, 1960, Dean was united in marriage to Glenda Kae Post at the First Reformed Church in Sanborn, Iowa. After graduating from college in 1962, Dean worked for International Harvester for one year, and then relocated to Pueblo, Colorado where he was employed for the next year with Allstate Insurance Company. His career with the United States Census Bureau began in Denver, Colorado; with transfers to Detroit, Michigan, Washington, D.C., California, and again to Denver; returning to Iowa in 2023 and calling Hartley “home”.

    Having moved around his entire adult life, Dean had acquired an appreciation for traveling and visited Europe, North America, Cuba, China and Russia, yet he could occupy himself with a challenging crossword or something good to read just as well. He had always liked being outdoors, whether it was pheasant hunting or an afternoon on the golf course, but nothing could take the place of the memories made on Canadian fishing trips he had taken with his Dad.

    Dean was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hartley and a proud veteran of the United States Armed Forces.

    On August 1, 2024, he passed from this life at Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley at the age of 89 years. Preceding him were his parents, Fred and Cleo Schroeder; and his brother, David Schroeder.

    Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Glenda of Hartley; three children: Stuart Schroeder of Santa Rosa, California, Stacey Schroeder of Santa Cruz, California, and Shawn (Caron) Schroeder of Sanborn, Iowa; two beloved grandchildren and one great-granddaughter; his sisters: Lynn Olhausen of Loveland, Colorado, Deanna Enright of Mankato, Minnesota; sister-in-law: Becky Schroeder of Rogers, Arkansas; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.