Dean Wesley Shiflet, 101, of Perry passed away Sunday, March 13, 2022, at the Kings Garden Campus of Perry Lutheran Homes in Perry, Iowa.
Funeral services will be held Monday, March 21 at 2 p.m. at the Carris Family Funeral Home and Cremation Care in Perry. Visitation will be Monday, March 21 from 1-2 p.m. prior to the service. Burial will be at the Dodge Township Cemetery in Bagley, Iowa, Monday, March 21 following the funeral service.
Dean Wesley Shiflet was born Feb. 21, 1921, in Winfield, Kansas, to Yoland James Shiflet and Lucille Bernice (Brant) Shiflet.
He attended school and graduated from Udall High School in Kansas.
Dean was united in marriage to Ruth Christine Heffner at the Methodist Church in Oxford, Kansas, Jan. 3, 1942. To this union, Dean and Ruth had and raised three children, Deanna, Ron and Connie.
Dean proudly served in the U.S. Air Force from Oct. 30, 1942, to Sept. 19, 1945. He served in the 15th Air Force and was stationed in Italy during World War II. He was a nose Turret Gunner on a B-24 Liberator.
Dean was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after being shot down over northern Italy and crash landed on Corsica Island, the Good Conduct Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Air Medal and the Four Oak Leaf Clusters. He attained the rank of Staff Sargent prior to his discharge.
Dean was a livestock and grain farmer. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Perry and served as a board member of the YJB School and the Lions.
Dean and Ruth enjoyed wintering in Destin, Florida, for 32 years.
In death he rejoins his wife of 75 years, Ruth; parents, Yoland and Lucille; sisters, Minnie Maxine Mackey, Theda Tucker and Dorothy Sweeney Wooddell; and brother, Hugh “Bud” Shiflet.
Left to cherish Dean’s memory are his children, Deanna (Ted) Garwood of Ogden, Ronald (Nancy) Shiflet of Ames and Connie (Al Koren) Culbertson of Perry; grandchildren, Lisa (Michael Day, deceased) Sheehy of Adel, Kevin (Shaelyn) Sheehy of Alden, Kansas, and Toni (Josh) Coughlin of Clive; and great-grandchildren, Shaye and Ryann Coughlin of Clive and Taylor Sheehy of Alden.
Memorials will be given to Meals on Wheels and may be left at the funeral home. Online condolences may be left at www.carrisfuneralhome.com.
