Dean Turrell Atwood
Corvallis Gazette-Times July 09, 2003

Nov. 15, 1923 - June 29, 2003

Dean Turrell Atwood of Bend, formerly of Corvallis, died June 29 of complications following a year long recovery from a heart attack. He was 79.

He was born in Darlington, Idaho, to Ivan and Lenora Boyd Atwood and grew up on a working farm and cattle ranch. He graduated from Thomas High School with honors. He attended college and worked on his father's farm until called to serve in World War II. He served out the final days of the war in the Philippines and then was a military police sergeant for a year in Korea. After his discharge he finished college at Ricks College, in Rexburg, Idaho.

He married Virginia Lee Jones on March 17, 1943, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. He taught school in several towns in Idaho.

In 1957 he received a National Science Foundation scholarship to the University of Idaho and Oregon State College, now Oregon State University. He received a master's degree from OSU and took a job as a math teacher at Corvallis High School, where he developed what was known at the Math Learning Center. Students could work at their own pace and could earn college credit. He also taught at OSU, Linn-Benton Community College and the state prison. He retired in 1984.

He was also a home builder and skilled mason. He built eight houses in the Corvallis area during summer breaks from teaching. He took higher-level college courses when available and had more than 200 college credit hours beyond calculus. He moved to Bend in 1993 to be closer to his family. He suffered a heart attack in May of 2002, which left him with severe dementia.

He enjoyed playing music, photography, gardening, bird watching, backpacking, fishing, geology and reading.

Survivors include his wife; daughters, Gloria Woods of Eugene and Lenora Atwood of Trout Lake, Wash.; sons, Terry and Jim of Bend; six grandchildren and a great-granddaughter; sister, Jean Phillips of Puyallup, Wash.; and brothers, Merlin of Ucon, Idaho, and Melvin of Blackfoot, Idaho.  No service is planned. Memorial donations can be made to any science or education organization.