Editing Jimmy Dean (section)

===Later years and death===
In the 1980s, he and his wife and family were residents of [[Tenafly, New Jersey]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/08/style/walter-jones-taylor-wed-to-connie-elizabeth-dean.html "Walter Jones Taylor Wed To Connie Elizabeth Dean"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 8, 1987. Accessed October 11, 2015. "At the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York yesterday Connie Elizabeth Dean, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Dean of Tenafly, N.J., was married to Walter Jones Taylor, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Zachary Taylor Jr. of Jackson, Miss...Her father, the country and western singer, is chairman of the Jimmy Dean Meat Company in Dallas."</ref>

A Virginia resident from 1990, Dean was inducted into the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997. Former Virginia governor [[Jim Gilmore]] appointed Dean to the [[Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries]], which oversees the state's wildlife efforts and boating laws. Dean owned a 110-foot yacht, ''Big Bad John'', on which he hosted President [[George Herbert Walker Bush|George Bush]] on numerous occasions.<ref name="Hosler">{{cite news |last1=Hosler |first1=Karen |title=Lifestyle of the rich and famous: At White House, Bush lives it up |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1991/09/03/lifestyle-of-the-rich-and-famous-at-white-house-bush-lives-it-up/ |access-date=November 6, 2018 |date=September 3, 1991 |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]}}</ref> The two had originally met on Dean's cable show in Nashville, where Bush did an impression of Dean selling sausage.<ref name="Bush Memories">{{cite news |last1=Warren |first1=Ellen |title=THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, MR. BUSH |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-01-19-9303163435-story.html |date=January 19, 1993 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref>

In the late 1990s, Dean and his wife donated generously to [[Varina High School]]. After initially considering opening their own school, they chose to support that public school instead.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morano |first=Rob |date= |title=Part Two: Citizen Dean |url=https://www.styleweekly.com/part-two-7/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250117194415/https://www.styleweekly.com/part-two-7/ |archive-date=2025-01-17 |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=Style Weekly |language=en-US}}</ref> They sponsored financial rewards for academic achievements for students, as well as stipends for teacher professional development.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1997-02-18 |title=HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 756 |url=https://legacylis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?971+ful+HJ756+pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250117193143/https://legacylis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?971+ful+HJ756+pdf |archive-date=2025-01-17 |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=Virginia's Legislative Information System}}</ref>

In the fall of 2004, he released his blunt, straight-talking autobiography ''30 Years of Sausage, 50 Years of Ham''. Dean lived in semi-retirement with his second wife, Donna Meade Dean, a singer, songwriter, and recording artist he married in 1991, who helped him write his book. The couple lived on their property at [[Chaffin's Bluff]] overlooking the James River in Henrico County, on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia. On April 20, 2009, the main house was largely gutted by a fire, although the Deans escaped injury. The Deans rebuilt their home on the same foundation and returned early in 2010.

Dean announced on May 20, 2008, a donation of $1 million to [[Wayland Baptist University]] in Plainview, the largest gift ever from one individual to the institution. Dean said: "I've been so blessed, and it makes me proud to give back, especially to my hometown."<ref>{{cite press release| title=Singer Jimmy Dean and wife donate $1 million to Wayland| url=https://www.wbu.edu/news-and-events/archives/2008/may/deanstory.htm| publisher=Wayland Baptist University| date=May 16, 2008| access-date=May 3, 2019}}</ref>

On February 23, 2010, Dean was nominated for the [[Country Music Hall of Fame]]; he was scheduled to be inducted in October 2010, but this occurred after his death.

Dean had three children, Garry, Connie and Robert, with his first wife Mary Sue (Sue) (née Wittauer) Dean, and two granddaughters, Caroline Taylor (Connie's daughter) and Brianna Dean (Robert's daughter). He married his first wife in 1950; she divorced him in 1990 because of his affair with country-singer Donna Meade who became his second wife.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-31-mn-3436-story.html| title=NATION: Jimmy Dean Sued for Divorce| date=October 31, 1991| newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Donna Dean married her childhood sweetheart Jason Stevens two years after Dean's death.<ref>{{cite news| title=Donna Meade Dean to remarry| url=https://www.richmond.com/news/donna-meade-dean-to-remarry/article_58fe488d-c460-54bd-a8c5-b50efdad7d50.html| newspaper=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]| date=August 5, 2015}}</ref>

Dean died on June 13, 2010, at the age of 81 at his home in [[Varina, Virginia|Varina]], Virginia.<ref name="NYTobit"/> He was survived by his second wife Donna.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://lubbockonline.com/obituaries/2010-06-17/jimmy-deans-funeral-services-set-monday?v=1276757667| date=June 17, 2010| title=Plainview native Jimmy Dean's funeral services set Monday in Virginia| newspaper=[[Lubbock Avalanche-Journal]]| agency=[[Associated Press]]| access-date=June 17, 2010}}</ref> She told the Associated Press that he was doing well health-wise, so his death came unexpectedly. She recollects that he was eating dinner while watching television, she left the room, and when she came back in he was unresponsive. He was declared dead at 7:54 pm.<ref>{{cite news| title=Jimmy Dean Obituary| url=http://www.legacy.com/ns/jimmy-dean-obituary/143577302| date=June 18, 2010| newspaper=Richmond Times-Dispatch| access-date=May 3, 2019}}</ref> His estate was estimated to be worth over $50 million.

He was entombed in a {{convert|9|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} piano-shaped mausoleum overlooking the James River on the grounds of his estate. His epitaph reads "Here Lies One Hell of a Man", which is a paraphrased lyric from the uncensored version of his song "Big Bad John".<ref name="NYTobit"/><ref name="DeanDeath">{{cite web |url=http://www.wtvr.com/news/jimmy-dean-dead,0,5856476.story |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100617031249/http://www.wtvr.com/news/jimmy-dean-dead,0,5856476.story |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 17, 2010
|title=Jimmy Dean Dies at The Age of 81 |date=June 13, 2010 |access-date=June 13, 2010 |last=Pellerano |first=Angela |work=[[WTVR-TV|WRVR News]]}}</ref>
[[File:Jimmy Dean Museum building, Plainview, TX IMG 1945.JPG|thumb|right|The Jimmy Dean Museum in [[Plainview, Texas|Plainview]], [[Texas]], shares the same building as The Museum of the [[Llano Estacado]] on the campus of [[Wayland Baptist University]].]]

On June 24, 2014, a groundbreaking was held for the Jimmy Dean Museum, which opened two years later on the grounds of [[Wayland Baptist University]] in his hometown of Plainview, Texas.<ref>{{cite web| title=The History of Jimmy Dean| url=https://www.wbu.edu/student-life/explore/campus-attractions/jimmy-dean-museum.htm| website=Wayland Baptist University| access-date=March 5, 2018}}</ref> Dean's widow, Donna Dean Stevens, was present for the ceremony. The museum houses much of Jimmy Dean's memorabilia as well as a larger-than-life-size bronze statue created by Richmond sculptor Paul DiPasquale and funded by [[Hillshire Brands]], then-owner of [[Jimmy Dean (brand)|the Jimmy Dean sausage brand]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Jonathan |last=Petty |url=http://www.myplainview.com/news/article_7d2720d6-fc00-11e3-9cd7-001a4bcf887a.html |title=Wayland breaks ground on new Jimmy Dean Museum |newspaper=[[Plainview Daily Herald]] |date=June 24, 2014 |access-date=August 18, 2015}}</ref> The museum is funded by a gift from the Dean Family Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |first=Doug |last=McDonough |url=http://www.myplainview.com/news/article_2fc87c0c-25b4-11e5-9f76-6bcf74bb7ca8.html |title=Work begins on Jimmy Dean Museum |newspaper=Plainview Daily Herald |date=July 8, 2014 |access-date=September 19, 2015}}</ref>