Deep faith and love of Scriptures
Obituaries
Br Trevor Dean CFC - Born December 9 1931 | Died June 13 2022
Christian Brother Trevor William Dean passed away peacefully in the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He had been diagnosed with COVID and taken to the hospital for specialised care from his accommodation in Southern Cross Care, Lourdes Valley, but passed away a few hours after admission. Trevor was 90 years of age.
The third of three sons in his family, Trevor spent his childhood in Adelaide and Renmark as his parents conducted a jewellery business in both locations. He attended the Sisters of Mercy school, St Aloysius, in Adelaide and the parish school in Renmark, before moving to Rostrevor College from 1940-48. A gifted student, he participated successfully in several sports at Rostrevor and was a member of one of their undefeated First XV111 football teams.
Trevor entered the Juniorate at St Enda’s in Strathfield for one year in 1949. After his novitiate at Minto and a year of Scholasticate, Trevor studied French and Italian full-time at Sydney University where he graduated with a B A(Hons) and developed what became a life-long interest in French. He was ever grateful for this opportunity and used this experience for his study at Jesus Magister, an institute for Brothers at the Lateran University in Rome and later at Lumen Vitae, at Louvain University in Brussels. Even in retirement, many years later, he taught French at the University of the Third Age in Adelaide.
After completing his studies at Jesus Magister and Lumen Vitae Trevor returned to Australia and taught at Parade College East Melbourne, St Kevin’s College Toorak, St Joseph’s College Pascoe Vale and St Patrick’s College Launceston. He was also assigned to Edmund Rice Juniorate, Christian Brothers’ Second Novitiate Parkville and St Joseph’s Teachers College Box Hill as a member of the staff of these colleges of formation for Christian Brothers.
During these years in Melbourne Trevor also worked at the Catholic Education Office where he specialised in assisting teachers in the field of Catechetics.
Trevor returned to Adelaide in 1980 where he was the Religious Education coordinator at Rostrevor College until the end of 1986, after which he had a year’s sabbatical at Dom Bede Griffiths’ Ashram in India and St Beuno’s in Wales.
It was while in India and England that Trevor researched the life of Olive Allerton, an Australian woman who supported Sr Theodore, another Australian who ran an orphanage for abandoned children in Madras. Trevor wrote Mrs Allerton’s biography Touched by God and was instrumental in encouraging and inspiring others to support the poor in India.
At the conclusion of his sabbatical Trevor joined the work of the Christian Brothers in Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa for eight years, teaching in diocesan seminaries.
On his return to Adelaide Trevor worked in the Catholic Church Office and became involved in work for Catholic Mission and ecumenism in particular. He was also a representative on the Commission for Ecumenism for the South Australian Council of Churches. In this work Trevor was held in very high regard and remembered fondly by many of his colleagues.
Trevor retired from active ministry but taught French part-time at the University of the Third Age in Adelaide and assisted with the Catholic Prison Ministry until he really retired and soon after moved into residential care.
Throughout his life Trevor nurtured his deep love of the Scriptures expressed in his ongoing personal study and prayer based on them. A constant companion of his in this quest was the Jerome Biblical Commentary, a copy which with his Jerusalem Bible was found near his bed in his room at Lourdes Valley after he died.
Trevor was a man of very deep faith and brought extraordinary energy and zeal to the various ministries he held in the Church. May he rest in peace with his God whom he loved and served so well.
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