It’s with great sadness we announce the passing of our dear compatriot Dean Oliver Talley. Dean passed suddenly in his home on March 10, 2018 and is survived by his wife Nancy and their children: Stephen, Laura, Michelle, stepdaughter Vikki, and three grandchildren. A celebration of Dean’s life will be held Saturday, April 14th at noon at the Chico Airport, 77 Piper Ave. (Full Obituary)
Subtly larger than life, Dean’s greater than 30 years of service to the firefighting community leaves an impressive legacy. Dean’s wisdom, insight, and advocacy as a long-time board member with AFF made untold advances to aerial firefighting and aviation safety. His mind, heart, and wit will be sorely missed by friends, family, and fire aviation.
Rest peacefully Captain Talley.
Dean Talley has been my dear friend for over 35 years. It has always amazed me that in addition to being such an incredible aviator and airtanker pilot that he was also such an incredible human being. Always kind, always modest and always the voice of reason.
At the first meeting of the Associated Airtanker Pilots in a hotel deep in the bowels of Stockton emotions ran high. People were shouting, some walked out of the room multiple times while some pilots chided others for their opinions. Somehow Dean could sooth bruised egos and calm the storm of emotions like no one else I ever saw.
Because of Dean acting as referee and diplomat all the combatants were gathered together and the first meeting was more or less a success. At least no one was punched out and we did decide to have another one.
Dean also had the same calm demeanor as a flight instructor. With Dean as my instructor in the radial engine S-2 I thought; “what a laid-back guy” especially when compared with some other airtanker instructors. But in fact, Dean wasn’t laid back. He was taking inventory, looking for behavior patterns that could prove lethal in a fire environment. His approach was to let you practice your craft while instilling confidence and providing vital feedback that could keep you alive. I always tried to pattern my instructing after Dean’s example. He was a master aviator and a magnificent flight instructor. I believe that the contributions he made to training tanker pilots probably saved lives.
Dean was the very best partner you could ever have at an airtanker base. At Chico I was in a radial engine S-2, Tanker 74. Dean was in a SP-2H. We fought fire together and I watched him save the day more times than I could count.
Although Dean was always a soft-spoken gentleman he was also the epitome of good leadership. Because he was so competent in his trade and such a powerful intellect he commanded the respect of all those who knew him and worked with him. Every one of us who knew and loved Dean Talley are far the better for it.