Dean Allen Porter was born on August 28th, 1960, to an incredibly proud and loving Mother, Marilyn Porter (Miller) and Father, Douglas Porter.

Dean passed away on February 27, 2025, sadly leaving behind his partner of 35 years, Cathie Cameron; his two daughters, Ashley Cameron (Nat Doucette) and Kristen Cameron (Scott Porter); his son, Jason Hyson, along with four grandchildren; Noah, Alexis, Grace & Jemma.

He was the toughest man that any of us knew, and he truly fought until the end, when his boxing gloves were finally hung for the last time.

From a young age, Dean enjoyed weightlifting and was very proud of the muscles that he built. He would often wrestle with his friends to prove his strength and would ask anyone to punch his belly because of how solid it was. He taught a lot of people how to defend themselves with their own strength and enjoyed challenging others to awkwardly lift multiple buckets of water or to stretch his spring chest expander to its fullest, which was impossible for almost everyone, except for Dean and eventually, Jason.

Dean was always a hard-working man. He found his first job at the age of fourteen as a Grocery Clerk at Dominion stores before becoming a Labourer for the Department of Transportation in 1975, while still in school and completing chores for his Mother. He dreamed of starting his own business and in 1985, he became his own boss and hired his mother as the bookkeeper. Dean owned many businesses throughout the years and worked tirelessly for each of them, with the help and support from his family. From a young age, Dean had a big dream to move to Florida and in 2000, he and his family were able to fulfill that dream together to start another family business before returning home to Nova Scotia in 2005.

Dean was an incredible dog trainer. His first German Shepherd, Bozo, was so obedient that the RCMP wanted him to join their K9 unit. All of Dean’s dogs: Bozo, Zorro and Diesel were able to perform impressive commands and brought much joy to his family & friends. In the winter, Dean would take young Ashley and Kristen to the frozen lake and have them sit on a sled that was tied to Zorro’s leash who would be commanded to ‘stay’ while Dean walked to the other side of the lake. “Zorro. Come” would echo through the air and Zorro would run to reach Dean, wherever he was, with us flying behind him! We would spend hours doing fun things like this as often as possible because Dean LOVED to laugh! Although he was not a talented joke teller, he would try often . He loved to laugh and would play tricks on anyone for a good chuckle (sorry Mom, we didn’t win the lottery!) He had a really good belly laugh that could be triggered from simple things like observing strangers.

Dean was also a talented drummer and was able to imitate great legends like Neil Peart, Randy Castillo and Lars Ulrich. He and his band would practice often to prepare for the big parties that Dean and Cathie were known to have with the best food, the best music AND had the best lights/special effects show. Dean liked to be flashy.

Few people know: Dean had an interest in art later in life. He would spend hours in the shed creating masterpieces for Ashley & Kristen that were inspired by his favorite artist. He was so proud of himself for every new technique that he learned and was able to apply to his own art.

Dean was many incredible things and although it still does not feel real, the world has lost a very powerful man. With his strength, we will carry on until we meet again, but we would not be who we are today without who he was each and every day that he was in our lives.

Our family would like to thank Lisa, Vera, Ann and the rest of the staff at Melville Lodge for all that they did to take care of Dean until the moment he left the building.

In keeping with Dean’s wishes, cremation has taken place and there is to be no public memorial service.

“Carry on my wayward son. There’ll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Don’t you cry no more”

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Service Note

In keeping with Dean’s wishes, cremation has taken place and there is to be no pubic memorial service.