Lemuel Dean Mitchell

Lemuel Dean Mitchell, 78, has peacefully passed away of natural causes at his home in Kerrville, Texas, at 3:55 p.m. on June the fifth of 2024.

Dean was born to Lemuel and Inez Mitchell in Wichita, Kansas, on May the twenty-first of 1946. Dean and his siblings, Dewey Mitchell and Katy Mitchell-Blevins, were raised in and about the Texas Gulf Coast region. Dean graduated from Texas City High School in Texas City, Texas. In 1971 Dean married Karen Sue Mitchell (née Kolb). In 1978 Dean and Sue moved to Kerrville, Texas and have remained in the Hill Country ever since. In 1980 he founded Dean Mitchell Masonry, a stone masonry construction company which is still serving the Texas Hill country to this day. 

Dean possessed a great passion for stone work, which can be witnessed in the craftsmanship of his masonry work on private and public spaces all over the Hill country; and which inspired him in his artistic triumphs as a stone sculptor. Dean studied the art of stone carving in Marble, Colorado, at The Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin, Texas, and at El Instituto de Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. His sculptures have been displayed at the Hill Country Arts Foundation, at Sid Peterson Ambulatory Care Center, and at the KACC where he was awarded first place in 3D art for his sculpture “Sun God”. Dean’s monumental stone sculptures, which stand fourteen feet tall and are carved from a single monolith of stone, can be viewed on a private ranch in the Hill Country, at The White Shaman Preserve in Comstock, Texas, and at The Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville. Other large form sculptures are on display in a private sculpture garden in Kerrville.

Dean studied prehistoric art at the Shumla Archeological Research and Education Center in Comstock, Texas and served on the board of the Rock Art Foundation. Dean was awarded the White Shaman Award at the Witte Museum of Natural History in San Antonio, Texas, for the contribution of his monumental stone sculpture, “Enduring Spirit”, and his work leading guided tours to the Ancient Indigenous Rock Art at Seminole Canyon State Park and the White Shaman Preserve.

In addition to stonework, Dean loved photography, the study of History, appreciating the Arts, exploring the outdoors by way of hiking, kayaking, and camping, and, especially, serving his community through volunteer service. Dean was a contributing member of the Hill Country Camera Club. He served for years as a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America. He was elected to and served as president of the Headwaters Groundwater Conservation District of Kerr County. For eleven years Dean lived at and served as a foster grandparent and the head of maintenance and construction for the Big Springs Ranch for Children in Leakey, Texas.

Well known in Kerrville and the Texas Hill Country as a successful entrepreneur, an artist, public servant and a colorful local character, Dean spent his later years photographing nature, composing Haiku, and translating the Tao Te Ching. 

Dean is survived by his beloved wife of fifty-three years, Sue Mitchell; his three children, Cherri Robbins (Tim), Karma Mitchell (Ric H.), and Lemuel “Mitch” Mitchell (Audrey); his five grandchildren, Matt Robbins, Scott Griffin, Vickie Griffin, Keaton Mitchell, and Harper Mitchell; and his two great grandchildren, Aveline Robbins and Jocelyn Robbins.

A memorial service for Dean will be held at the Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville at a date to be announced.

         Discover the heart,

Of warm glowing radiance,

In all that you see.

      -LDM

Services with integrity, pride, and honor are under the direction of Kerrville Funeral Home. (830)895-5111