Edward Giffen

Edward “Dean” Giffen, 86, Prairie Village, Kan., passed away Friday, October 19, 2007. He was born November 27, 1920, to Lillian Trousil Giffen and E.C. Giffen in Mobridge, S.D. His father was State Superintendent of Schools for South Dakota. He met and fell in love with his wife of 65 years, Margaret, while both attended Topeka High School. Dean served in the Army Air Corps from 1944 until 1948. He was sent to England in 1944 and flew many missions over Europe during WW II as a P38 pilot. After his honorable discharge from the military in 1948, Dean and Margaret settled in Topeka where he started working for Compton’s Encyclopedia. He always said, “You can find anything you need to know in those books.” Dean and Margaret moved to Prairie Village, Kan., in 1953 when Dean became District Manager for Compton’s and later Encyclopaedia Britannica. Dean was willing to do or try anything and help others. He loved working in his vegetable garden, trout fishing and cooking. He always liked to say that someone needed to hold down his buttermilk pancakes before they floated away. Survivors include his wife, Margaret, Prairie Village; his daughter, Jamie Kimbrough, and her husband Rick Kimbrough, Leavenworth, Kan.; his son Scott Giffen and his wife Susan, Prairie Village; his grandchildren Jay Kimbrough, Kansas City, Carly Kimbrough, San Francisco, Calif., Carrie Giffen, Prairie Village, Julie Potter and her husband David, Mission, and Robert Giffen, Prairie Village, Kan., and sister Sally Bauers, Portland Ore.

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