Dean Strub

Dean Strub, 68, of Okoboji, died Sunday, November 26, 2018. Dean was born on December 6, 1949 in LeMars, Iowa to Robert and Maryellen Strub. He attended grade school in Merrill and middle and high school in LeMars graduating from LeMars Community High School in 1968. After high school he attended Westmar College for a short time which is where he initially met and dated Marilyn Strickland. He held various jobs over the years, living for a short time in Kentucky until he settled in Phoenix in the mid-70's. Twenty-eight years after dating in college, Dean and Marilyn reconnected by chance in the late 1990's, were later married on November 25, 2000 and made their home in Okoboji. Dean often said Marilyn was the love of his life and his greatest blessing from God. Dean and Marilyn were very active in their church and community over the years. Family was very important to Dean. He made the trek from Okoboji to LeMars over the years for as many activities of his nieces and nephews as he could. The last five years of his life, Dean waged a valiant battle against cancer. He had a positive, "never 'gonna let it get me down" approach to his cancer fight. He believed passionately that God walked defensively alongside him in the treatments for cancer so he could urge others to hold onto positive, faith-filled hopes and plans, not allowing fear or a "give-in" attitude to exist or flourish. As a result of his attitude and profession that Jesus had his back, he and his doctors saw many miraculous things happen during his fight. Today he is surely missed but he is Home in Heaven with Jesus. He is survived by Marilyn, his wife of 18 years; his mother Maryellen of Merrill; siblings: Tom (Katrina) of Jackson, MI; Phil (Rita) of Denver; Diane of Peoria, IL; Julie of Merrill; Jeanie of Merrill; Mark (Beth) of LeMars; nieces and nephews: Rachel (Strub) Smallwood, Maurae Grabeklis, Justin Grabeklis, Ryan Strub, Vickie Strub, Nick Strub, Jacob Kluver, Jessica Kluver, Zack Strub, Ben Strub, Sarah Strub, Matt Strub, and many other relatives. He was preceded in death by his brother David and his father Robert. A visitation will be on Friday, November 30th from 4:00 - 6:00pm at Spirit Life Fellowship Church. A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 11:00am at Spirit Life Fellowship in Spirit Lake. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established. Turner Jenness Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.