Obituary: Andree Maitland Dean 

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• Andree Maitland Dean

Andree Maitland Dean passed away peacefully in her sleep on March 15, 2021, at the age of 92 at her apartment in Peconic Landing in Greenport, N.Y. The cause of death was chronic respiratory insufficiency.

Born Andree Belden Maitland in Cedarhurst, N.Y., she was the youngest of five children. She attended Choate Rosemary Hall and entered Barnard College at 16. Two years later, in 1947, she left Barnard to marry Howard Dean Jr., who predeceased her in 2001. Together they had four boys, Howard, Charles (who predeceased her in 1974), James and William. She also leaves 10 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a sister, Helen Corroon; and dozens of adoring nieces and nephews.

After her boys left home, Andree returned to Columbia General Studies to get her BA in art history. She embarked on a career as an art appraiser and purchaser for individuals, corporations and museums. One of her noted accomplishments in the art world was the acquisition of J.W.M. Turner's "Wreckers Off the Coast of Northumberland" for the Yale Museum of British Art in the 1970s. In deference to her Scottish heritage, she had the seven-figure painting crated and drove it from New York City to New Haven in the back of her station wagon.

Andree was a force of nature. Her gracious manners and ready laugh concealed a fierce determination. She arranged travel to Africa in the 1960s with extended family and friends, including 14 children ages 10 to 21. In the winters, she put together raucous ski adventures with her children, her sisters, and 10 or 11 nieces and nephews. In later years, she traveled on Overseas Adventures Travel to all corners of the globe.

Born and then married into staunchly Republican families, Andree campaigned in the Midwest for her eldest son Howard's 2004 Democratic presidential campaign. In 2008, after Hillary Clinton lost in the primaries, she hit the campaign trail for Barack Obama, going door-to-door in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She did so again in the 2012 campaign at the age of 83. Her civic engagement commitments included a long stint on the East 86th Street Block Association in New York City until the 1990s, when she worked with, and sometimes fought, city hall in an effort to make a positive difference for her neighborhood. Andree was a longtime resident of East Hampton following her marriage in 1947. She was an active participant in the LVIS, East Hampton Historical Society, Village Preservation Society and numerous other volunteer projects. She was a parishioner at both the Church of the Holy Trinity in East Hampton and St. Ignatius Loyola in New York.

Andree played tennis into her late eighties, despite her chronic respiratory illness. In 2016, she moved from East Hampton, where the Dean family goes back nearly 400 years, to Peconic Landing with a group of friends.

Funeral arrangements and interment are pending. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be sent to the Charles M. Dean Scholarship Fund: St. George's School, 372 Purgatory Rd., Middletown, RI 02842.