Pekin World War II veteran, Legion d'honneur recipient dies at 99
Pekin lost one of its most distinguished veterans recently with the death of Dean Arthur Preston.
Born Nov. 20, 1924, Preston graduated Pekin Community High School. He volunteered for service in the U.S. Army ahead of the draft and served with the 927th Signal Battalion during World War II as a radioman. He was part of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France; and he served in the Battle of the Bulge. Last August, the French government awarded him the Legion d'honneur.
“Many years have passed since you left your family and this community for your military training and service,” Consul General of France to the Midwest Yannick Tagand told Preston during the presentation ceremony. “But France has not forgotten.”
More: Pekin World War II veteran to receive French Legion of Honor medal
“I didn’t know anything about the Legion of Honor when I was serving in Europe,” Preston said in a July 2023 interview with the Pekin Daily Times. “I really didn’t think much about it until it came up that I was getting one, and I’m learning more about it all the time. I still don’t know a lot about it, other than it’s a really important (decoration). I’m very honored to get it.”
Upon returning home from the war, Preston attended the University of Illinois, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration in 1949. He then worked the American Distilling Company in Pekin for 28 years, serving as a bottling superintendent.
He continued in that capacity for Midwest Grain for seven years before retiring in 1987. He then worked as a funeral service assistant at Preston-Hanley Funeral Homes and Crematory in Pekin, where he became rather famous for regaling visitors with stories about his World War II service.
“I knew Dean for 37 years and he was always someone I respected,” said Preston-Hanley general manager Buster Hanley. “It was just the way he carried himself. He was a steady, even-tempered gentleman who you could definitely look up to.”
Preston was a 12-year member of the Tazewell County Sheriff's Auxiliary Patrol; a 72-year member of Empire Lodge 126, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Illinois in Pekin and a member of William Schaefer American Legion Post 44.
He also was a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies, Valley of Peoria and Heart of Illinois Shriners.
He was also a former member of the Pekin Barbershop Chorus and First Christian Church in Pekin, a youth counselor with Junior Achievement and the Drum Sergeant with the Shrine Kiltie Band in Peoria.“We got to see him get his French Legion of Honor award in August, and we got to help him celebrate his 99th birthday in August,” Hanley said. “It was a true blessing that we were able to do that while he was still with us.”
Preston was preceded in death by his parents Walter and Norma Preston, his wife Alberta, his brother Walter James Preston, and his nephew, James Bryant Preston. He is survived by two nephews, Bradley Preston of New Orleans and Richard Preston of Tampa; one niece, Dr. Barbara Preston-Broesder of Las Cruces, N.M.; six grandnephews and two grandnieces.
In lieu of flowers, friends and family were encouraged to make memorial contribution to Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago and the Tazewell Animal Protection Society in Pekin.
This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Pekin man, Legion d'honneur recipient Dean Preston dies at 99
