Dean Martin retired after 36 wonderful years at Van’s Lumber & Custom Builders on April 30, 2024.
Dean’s career at Van’s Lumber began on May 26, 1987, as a Frame Carpenter after taking a variety of construction classes at Madison Area Technical College. He proved his dedication to his job and the crews he worked with, as shortly after that, he was promoted to Foreman. During his time as a Foreman, Dean mainly took on re-modeling jobs and very much enjoyed them. He also worked on commercial buildings in Door County such as Cooper’s Corner and Door Peninsula Winery.
In 2016, Dean was promoted to Job Coordinator and while he enjoyed being out on job sites, he looked forward to the transition from construction worker to semi-office worker and being able to go out on jobs to help the crews from start to finish. Dean always kept a tool belt in his truck and was more than willing to jump in and help out, not just be a Job Coordinator. Previous customers would always request Dean and his crew to come by for work they were having done.
He appreciates that Van’s continues to treat everyone like family – especially with three of his sons having worked for Van’s, 2 of them are still with us, as is his daughter as a sub-contractor. Dean was very much a family man and a true people person, making sure all his customers felt like a part of the Van’s family as well. Outside of working hours, Dean loved to spend time with his four children, riding his motorcycle and kayaking and fishing at his cabin in Crivitz and we are sure he will be spending his well-deserved retirement doing all of that and more.
“What a great employee, but he felt more like a friend. He always kept calling us chief and we always corrected him. You never had to ask him to handle a task more than once and he would have it taken care of, Dean was a true craftsman. We will all miss his quick, witty comments that made our weekly Tuesday morning meetings, and any interaction had with Dean, more enjoyable.
- The VandenHoutens