Dean “Dean-O” Parkins passed away in Seattle, Washington, on Sunday morning, January 1, 2017. He was the younger son of the late William L. and Grace Edith Parkins. Dean was born in Seattle in 1927 and grew up in West Seattle, where he was a Boy Scout, attaining the rank of Life Scout. As an honored Boy Scout, Dean was chosen to be the first one to raise the American flag ever to fly at Lincoln Park’s Colman Pool. At age 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he served aboard two ships just after the end of WWII. After his service, he attended the University of Washington, where he majored in economics. After learning conversational Spanish, he hitchhiked and biked 4000 miles in Mexico. Dean was an early member of R.E.I., and he served as a Board member for the Mountaineers. He was a charter and organizing member of the Everett Mountain Rescue Council. To celebrate his 50th birthday, he organized a group, which included his daughter Amy, to climb Mt. Rainier. Many happy times were spent with his family aboard his first sailboat the Zephirus, and later aboard the Spray.He also loved to square dance with the Belles and Buoys, to sing barbershop with the Harmony Kings, and he taught himself how to play the guitar, which he used around the campfire to sing folksongs on family sailing trips to the San Juan Islands. As a businessman, Dean worked in the tax field. He began doing tax work for farmers and small business for Business Tax Services. In 1952 he established a branch office in Everett, and in 1962 he opened a branch in Olympia and supervised the opening of a branch in Tacoma. In 1968 he was promoted to Assistant General Manager and he and his family settled in Kent, Washington. In his 30-year relationship with Business Tax Services, he helped operate six branch offices and employed over 50 individuals. In 1981 Dean entered the real estate business at Pacific Coast Realty and, shortly thereafter, he opened his own real estate firm, Dean Parkins and Associates, Inc. During this time he continued his tax work and contributed articles to two trade journals. From 1993 to 2002 Dean was the editor of the Washington State Society of Enrolled Agents. In 2001 he helped found Burien’s Business and Economic Development Organization and helped get Discover Burien off the ground. In 2004 the Burien City Council named him the Business Leader of the Year. In addition, he became more active in his church, Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist, in Burien. Dean is survived by his devoted and lovely wife LaVon of Seattle; his son Kent Parkins of Ashland, Oregon; his daughter Holly Morris of Saint Louis, Missouri; his daughter
Amy Dehnert; and his daughter Claire Wilson of Seattle. He has nine grand-children and eight great-grand-children.

A memorial service is being planned for Saturday, July 22, 2017, in West Seattle. All neighbors and friends are welcome to join his family as they remember his lifetime commitment to learning and adventure, and his helpfulness, ready smile, and love. Please email amyjd@comcast.net if you would like details of the memorial sent to you once they are confirmed. His loving wife LaVon, his children, and all of his many friends, will dearly miss him.

Published in the Highline Times section of the Westside Weekly, January 20, 2017