The couple currently resides at the Brookdale Buck Creek assisted living facility in Springfield. Over their 67 years of marriage, the pair have grown their family with three children and over a dozen grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“Be willing to see what the other person would really like to say about a subject and not have to have your own way all the time,” Dolores Dean, 88, said. “We’ve done rather well in 67 years.”
That is quite the understatement for a couple that met before the Vietnam War and is still going strong today.
“It was a blind date,” Dalton Dean said of meeting his wife for the first time. “She was in nurse’s training and one of her instructors went to my church and asked me if I wanted to date a young nurse. I said sure.”
Dalton Dean took Dolores Dean, who was attending White Cross Hospital School of Nursing, to a dance. The rest, as they say, is history.
“We dated awhile, I met her family - it just went on from there,” Dalton Dean said.
The Deans’ outlook on life and love comes at a time when many adults in the U.S. are suffering from loneliness. According to the 2025 Stress in America study conducted by the American Psychological Association, 54% of respondents reported experiencing a lack of companionship.
The couple believe that distrust and arguing are what cause most relationships to fail.
“Distrust. I guess wanting your own way all the time. You could put a lot of words into that,” Dalton Dean said.
On the other hand, open communication is vital to making things work according to Dalton Dean.
“We always go to church together until Dolores’ recent sickness and we discuss things, talk to one another,” he said.
At 95 years old, Dalton remains passionate about his wife and the reasons he has loved her all these years.
“She’s always been truthful and helpful. She’s treated our children well and raised them well. She’s run a good household, making it a happy home. She’s worked hard outside the home,” Dalton Dean said of his wife.
The Deans’ successful marriage is made all the more remarkable given the phenomenon known as “gray divorce.” According to research from the Pew Research Center, almost a quarter of divorces occur after 25 years of marriage.
“If you truly want that for your marriage then you have to go ahead and do it,” Dolores Dean said about having a long-lasting marriage. “Let the other person know that you want it to turn out well for him as well as for the relationship.”
It’s a recipe that has certainly worked for the Deans.
“When you look at each other and there’s that glimmer in your eyes, that you’ve been down this road before … that’s all part of that same (formula),” Dolores said.
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