Walter Dean

Oklahoma City's twenty-first mayor, Walter Crowder Dean, was born March 16, 1865 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to arriving in Oklahoma City Dean lived in Paris, Texas where he spent 20 years as a civil engineer, and Ardmore, Oklahoma where he started a jewelry business in 1905. He came to Oklahoma City in 1908 where he continued his jewelry business until 1932. When Dean ran for mayor, he said he was not going to run a campaign, and gave no speeches or nor did he print any sort of campaign material. He said that if the people wanted him they would elect him. That strategy worked, and he became the mayor of Oklahoma City in 1927. He was the first mayor under the city management form of government. After his stint as mayor, Dean would work for Haliburton’s department store until early 1952. Dean died on October 19, 1952 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Paris, Texas.