Today's Evil Beet Gossip

A Man of My Childhood (OK, and Adulthood, Too) Has Passed Away

photo of jimmy dean the sausage king

Jimmy Dean. As in, you know, Jimmy Dean sausages — he passed away last night (my birthday!) at his Virginia home. Dean was 81 years old.

According to Dean’s wife, the two were having dinner in the living room and after leaving the room for a moment, she returned to find her husband unresponsive.

Dean was not only “Sausage King”; he had a myriad of talents including acting, singing and television commentating. He also created and starred in The Jimmy Dean show, which, ironically enough, was not about sausage.

I like sausage. And I especially like Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage. When I was much younger, a special breakfast “treat” in my family home was a meal that consisted of Jimmy Dean sausage and hash brown potatoes. Once a week, we were allowed the decadence of sausage and potatoes after surviving an entire week’s worth of healthier meals like shredded wheat and a variety of fruits. Ugh.

To this day, when I eat my sausage and potatoes breakfast (which, now that I am older, is much, much more common), I think of Jimmy Dean in reverence. However, now, I’ll think of him with something more — an almost-demigod worship.

RIP, Jimmy. You were a good dude.

3 CommentsLeave a comment

  • Best bacon on the market! Hope his company's standards stay up to par. R.I.P. Mr. Dean. P.S. Good acting in job in “Diamonds are Forever”.

  • At the top of this page is a great, great man. Bigger than I realized, based on rhmccabe comment. And he never let go of the head. Does anyone know if Seth Ward was named the Jimmy Dean, James Byron Dean before or after he became famous? I know the singer / sausage man was older.