COURTNEY GFROERER and
SYLVANA DUSSAN
Managing Editor and Editor in Chief
“We would make forts in the living room out of sheets and blankets, dress up in costumes and make funny videos, play with Legos and play outside a lot. We would play video games together a lot — our favorites were James Bond, Dynasty Warriors and Madden,” Katie Dean recalled of her older brother. The sudden and unexpected death of SUNY Fredonia senior Thomas Dean, known to many as “Thom,” has left his family, the campus and surrounding communities in shock to cope with his passing.
Dean’s roommate placed a 911 call around 3 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2, and upon hearing it over the scanner, University Police were on the scene within a minute, according to Fredonia’s Director of Public Relations, Michael Barone. After being transported to Brooks Memorial Hospital, Dean was pronounced dead.
While the cause of death is still unknown, officials say there was nothing at the scene to indicate foul play.
“There is nothing that our police officers saw at the scene that would suggest anything inappropriate,” said Barone. An autopsy was performed this past Saturday, and the toxicology reports were sent for analysis. Though it could take weeks for the results, it is the family’s decision whether the information will be released to the public or not.
Mere hours prior to his death, Dean’s mother, sister and out-of-town godmother visited and had dinner with him in town. According to Barone, his family made the trip to celebrate Dean’s 21st birthday from the previous week.
Dean was well known by many on campus and was heavily involved in multiple clubs and activities.
“Thom was an intellectual, a video gamer, a tea drinker and a realist,” said Jeff Wick, one of Dean’s childhood friends and current SUNY Fredonia student. “Anyone who knew Thom knows that he took his friends very seriously. He took life very seriously. He cared so much for people that it hurt him,” Wick expressed. “Thom asked me if I wanted to be his friend because we both seemed to click. He turned 6 years old about a month later. This is when we decided we were best friends.”
“Both of us had small cuts and scrapes on our hands from playing on the playground. We heard the term ‘blood brothers’ and assumed that it meant that we were supposed to put our cuts together. So we did. 15 years later, it stayed as something special,” said Wick.
His love of language led him to become an English major, which developed into an entire college career of writing. Aside from participating in Writers’ Ring, Dean co-founded and contributed to the online satirical blog, “The Follower.”
“Thom had a voice for satire. He had the ability to hide the sharpest edges of his criticisms beneath understated flashes of wit,” Dan Hahn, co-founder of “The Follower,” said of Dean. “I would never have told him, but today I have modeled my own satirical voice on his. In a way he taught me how to write for ‘The Follower’ and so much of his breath fills the lungs of those articles — even the ones he had nothing to do with — because of what I learned just from being around him in those early stages,” Hahn said.
According to many, Dean had a way of inspiring everyone around him. Even if he didn’t mean to at times, he was constantly influencing the work of those around him.
“That’s actually the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Thom: his writing and, more specifically, that he was a great writer,” said Zain Syed, a 2013 SUNY Fredonia graduate who majored in English.
“When I left those creative writing classes that I had with Thom or those few sessions of Writer’s Ring that I attended, I know I always felt that I wanted to write more, and that I wanted to write more like Thom,” Syed said.
In addition to Wick, several Fredonia students met Dean from years of attending school in Newfane, NY. His love of music was known to many, especially his passion for The Beatles.
“He was so easy to talk to, such a beautiful soul. I’m still in utter shock that he’s gone, but I know now that he is at peace,” said Rachel Platt, a 2010 Newfane High School graduate and SUNY Fredonia class of 2014 student. “I think the first thing he did was meet John Lennon.”
“He was always ready to help a friend in need. And he always had a snappy comeback, no matter what,” noted Rachel Gregg, also a 2010 Newfane High School graduate and SUNY Fredonia class of 2014 student.
A “celebration of life” will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at the Cornell Cooperative in Lockport, NY at 5 p.m. The Office of Residence Life will be providing a bus to transport up to 42 students from Fredonia to the “celebration of life,” meeting at the Williams Center and departing at 3 p.m. this coming Wednesday. To reserve a spot call the Office of Residence Life at (716) 673-3341.
Additionally, Fredonia will be holding its own memorial gathering to celebrate the life of Dean. It is tentatively set to take place on Nov. 20 in the Horizon Room at 4 p.m.
Dean’s family and English department have already set up a fund in honor of Dean through the Fredonia College Foundation, The Thomas Dean Memorial Fund. Though the family still has to set certain criteria, the fund could be used for a variety of purposes such as department funding or scholarship money. Donations can be sent to The Foundation House by calling (716) 673-3321 or by visiting http://go.fredonia.edu/ThomasDeanMemorial. “Thom was the most wonderful brother and he had so many great people in his life,” Katie Dean said. “He has inspired so many people and touched so many lives. “