Dean Francis Wilcox, 93, Rapid City, died Sunday, June 24, 2018 at Black Hills Care and Rehabilitation Center. He was born in Belmont, NY on September 29, 1924, the only child of Horace and Myrtle (Travis) Wilcox.

He joined the US Navy in January 1942, serving in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. He was honorably discharged in November 1945. He then enlisted into the US Air Force. During his service in the Air force, he was in Tripoli, Eniwetok, Bikini, Azores, Germany, England and Guam. On one of his stateside duty tours at Offutt AFB in Omaha, Nebraska, he met and married his wife Ardis on December 4, 1953. He retired from the Air Force in 1973 and moved his family to Rapid City. He worked for 6 years for the South Dakota Department of Transportation from 1975 until retiring in 1981.

Dean loved sports and was very active in golf, bowling and archery. He also loved to go deer hunting. He was a member of the Rapid City Elks Lodge 1187 for 16 years, a past member of the Masonic Lodge, TREA, Canyon Lake and Minneluzahan Senior Centers.

Dean is survived by his children, Timothy and his wife Terri, Parker, CO; Cheryl and her husband Mike Trobec, Highlands Ranch, CO; two grandchildren, Nicole Wilcox of Parker, CO and Shantel Appel (Wilcox) of Evergreen, CO. He is preceded in death by his parents and his wife Ardis, March 3, 2018.