Clark Dean

Clark E. Dean, 91, father, husband, artist and World War 2 veteran, died peacefully at his home in Oak Park, IL at 5:30 am on November 19. Born in Petoskey, Michigan, he served in the U.S. Army and used the educational benefits he received under the G.I. Bill to study photography at New Bauhaus Chicago, a school established by international artist and educator László Moholy-Nagy. Dean worked at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and later opened a commercial photo studio in that city. He moved to Chicago and started to play soprano saxophone accompanying Chicago boogie-woogie piano legend Erwin Helfer. At age 60, Dean married Yoko Noge, a Japanese citizen and fellow musician. Together, Dean and Noge founded the Jazz Me Blues band, and played regularly for more than 15 years at the Hothouse, the legendary Chicago club, as well as at the annual Chicago Blues Fest, Jazz Fest and numerous international festivals. Dean performed until his health declined; in 2011, he lost his vision due to giant cell arteritis. Dean is survived by three sons and Yoko Noge-Dean, now the Chicago bureau correspondent for Nikkei, the Japanese business daily newspaper.