Longtime island resident, Dean

Bitney, unexpectedly passed away

on May 29. Dean was born August

6, 1953 and grew up in the First Hill

neighborhood. He attended East

Seattle Elementary, North Mercer

Jr. High and graduated from Mercer

Island High School in 1971.

In 1986, he married Roxann Knudsen and they lived

together on the island for 30 years. Roxann passed away

in 2016. Dean lived on Mercer Island until 2017 when he

moved to Port Orchard for the summertime and Tucson,

AZ for the winter. He is survived by his sister, Lynn Walsh,

of Renton.

Dean was a third generation insurance agent. His father,

Bill Bitney, moved the business, Bitney Insurance Agency,

to Mercer Island in 1969. After Bill retired, Dean owned

and operated the agency until he retired. He enjoyed

meeting and helping his customers with their insurance.

He will be remembered for his unique sense of humor

and his willingness to help out whenever a friend needed

a hand. He always had a couple of dogs to love and spoil.

An annual tradition was to celebrate his birthday during

Seafair with high school classmates and new friends and

neighbors he met over the years.