Pratt Dean, longtime IMB missionary to Japan, dies at 91

Pratt Dean, a longtime International Mission Board missionary to Japan, died May 5. He was 91.

A native of Ozark, Dean dedicated his life to Christian service at age 13. He earned a diploma from Moody Bible Institute and degrees from Wheaton College in Illinois and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He also studied at Texas Christian University.

While in seminary, Dean felt a call to missions. He served as pastor of First Baptist Church Cottondale, Florida, before being appointed as a missionary with the IMB (then called the Foreign Mission Board) to Japan in 1966. In 1970 he married Rita, who had been serving in Taiwan, and they served together in Japan until their retirement in 1999.

While there, Dean designed a vase that could be used to share the story of the Trinity through Chinese characters that are also used in the Japanese language.

Dean was a member of Church on the Bluff in Hoover. He is preceded in death by his wife.