Dean George Wangsvick

July 1, 1946 – Feb 7, 2019

Beloved husband, father, brother, and grandfather, Dean Wangsvick passed away in the early hours of February 7th with his wife and son at his side. His body finally succumbed to cancer, but his spirit lives on in the hearts of those who knew him. Everyone remembers Dean as a kind and gentle soul, a man of impeccable character who always put others first, a man of intellect who was not afraid to express his feelings to the people he loved.

The eldest of five children, he was born July 1st, 1946, in Elgin, North Dakota to Doris and Delmar Wangsvick. He was later joined by three brothers and one sister, who all looked to Dean as a mentor and guide throughout their lifetimes. Dean was always a gifted student. After receiving a national merit scholarship in high school, he graduated from the University of Nebraska with a BS degree and followed that with graduate studies in philosophy at the University of Pittsburg. He arrived in San Francisco in the summer of 1970, joining a few fellow college friends who had already settled there.

Dean had many passions in life, including sudokus, photography, fine wine , music, duplicate bridge, and baseball. . He was a passionate San Francisco Giants fan who attended many games. He even wrote a treatise on baseball which he always wanted to publish: it was entitled “Win/loss share by game .” The system assigned each player a portion of the win or loss in the range of .00 to 1.00 with plus 1.00 (win) or minus 1.00 (loss) being the total possible score.

Duplicate bridge was another passion. Dean met his wife Joanne playing bridge at local San Francisco clubs in the 1970s. They renewed their friendship and bridge partnership many years later, falling in love and finally embracing the commitment of marriage in 2017. Dean served as President of the San Francisco ACBL (American Contract Bridge League )Unit 506 for eight years, resigning only when illness made it impossible to continue in this role. Everyone in the bridge community respected Dean . Sympathy cards from bridge players expressed thoughts such as: he had a knack for making people feel important; he was always kind to me and that meant a lot; he was such a warm, caring person, such a wonderful man – a true gentleman. Dean will be missed by all who knew him.

Dean is survived by his wife, Joanne Allen, his son, Paul Wangsvick, his daughter in law, Naomi Wangsvick, his two grandsons Leif and Calem, who he loved dearly, his sister Marvel, and his brothers Carl and Ernie. Dean’s family meant the world to him. His son Paul, a professor at Seoul National University, and his sister Marvel, who lives in Sacramento, all came to support him in the last weeks of his life. Those wishing to make a donation in Dean’s memory may contribute to the American Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (pancan. org) .