Page 67 - South Mississippi Living - November, 2018

Wiggins Little League Baseball All Stars
Dizzy Dean
Dean married Bond, Mississippi, native Patricia Nash in 1931. In 1960, Dean and Pat moved to the Bond community, which is a stone’s throw from Wiggins. It didn’t take long for Dizzy to become a Stone County hometown hero, not because of his baseball fame but due to his likeable personality.
I traveled to the Old Firehouse Museum in Wiggins where you can find photos, newspaper clippings and remembrances of Dizzy Dean. I met with sisters Dawn Sommers and Gabrielle Alexander and Jim Rabby. Dawn and Gabrielle were the daughters of Jim and Gloria Davis, who owned a store in Wiggins. They became close friends of Dizzy.
Rabby worked at the Bank of Wiggins and drove Dizzy to the New Orleans airport when he had to fly out of town. He recalled a day when Dizzy walked into the bank and overheard his phone conversation. Rabby said Dean replied, ‘You got trouble there, partner?’ Rabby explained that he was trying to secure a home loan and was unsuccessful. “About 45 minutes passed and a local attorney called to say Dizzy Dean financed the $3,000.00 for me,” Rabby said. “Dizzy didn’t say a word and I have never forgotten his kindness.”
Dawn Sommers remembers the $100 bill she received from Dizzy after she graduated from Stone High in 1973. She also remembers the day Dizzy left Wiggins to fly out to a golf tournament in Reno, Nevada. She said, “Dean signed a baseball for me and it was one of the last baseballs he signed.” On July 17, 1974, Dean died in Reno at the age of 64.
Gabrielle Alexander recalls when Dizzy and Pat Dean, her parents and District Attorney Boyce Holleman belonged to a bridge club. “I would sit under the table, which was complete with linen table cloth and china and they would have dinner. I would listen to them talk and laugh. I just wish I had had a tape recorder at the time,” she said.
Holleman named one of his sons Dean in honor of Dizzy. I met with Dean at the Holleman law firm in Gulfport. “In 1960, Boyce and mom actually gave up their master bedroom for six months so Dizzy and Pat could sleep there while the old Nash home was being remodeled,” he said.
On that fateful trip to Reno, Holleman said, “Pat told my dad that Dizzy was at the airport and was having heart trouble and went to a hospital. Dizzy told her that if he was going to die, he was going to die in Mississippi. So, they left the hospital and went back to the airport to fly home but Dizzy died at the airport.”
Patricia Dean gave Holleman old albums Dizzy had received that were signed by famous recording artists, including Johnny Cash and Kitty Wells.
Patricia Dean died in 1981. She and Dizzy are buried in the Bond Cemetery and their home was donated to the Baptist Children’s Village to provide services for children in need. The Wiggins Post Office and the welcome center on Highway 49 are named for Dizzy Dean.
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November 2018 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 67
Dean Holleman has a letter he received from Patricia Dean framed in his office. It reads in part -
Dearest Dean,
May the gift always remind you
that you carry the name of a much beloved man, a man who gave a great deal of love and received a great deal. He loved you, Dean, and was so proud you carried his name. And remember Dean, a man is never honored for what he gets, but for what he gives. Dizzy gave love, joy and laughter to all the world.
Patricia Nash Dean, (Mrs. Dizzy)
Dean Holleman