Harold Dean Victory Jr.

Harold Dean Victory, Jr., passed away at his residence in Lubbock, TX on November 13, 2021. He was born on August 11, 1946 in Longview, TX to the late Harold Dean Victory and Elizabeth Hunt Benson Victory. Dean grew up and attended schools in Gladewater, graduating from Gladewater High School in 1964. He was very proud of his pioneer heritage that were associated with helping settle the Gladewater area and enjoyed researching the history of his beloved "Huckabay Estate" as well as discussing the Haynesville Shale gas and oil production in the east Texas and northwest Louisiana area.
Following high school, Dean went on to do his undergraduate studies at Rice University, graduating with a degree in Mathematics in 1968. He then went on to Purdue University, where he received his master's degree in Applied Mathematics in 1970 and then continued to achieve his Doctorate Degree in Applied mathematics in 1974. Upon graduation, Dean moved to Lubbock in 1974 and began teaching at Texas Tech University. He was made a Full Professor in 1989 and continued to teach, until his retirement in 2012. During his career he became well known in the field of mathematics, authoring or co-authoring about 50 papers, published in the foremost mathematics journals and was cited nearly 300 times. His brilliance in mathematics led him to carry out research in Germany during the eighties when he was awarded the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship. He gave numerous talks here in the United States as well as in Italy, U.S.S.R., Germany and China, as well as being the principal investigator or a co-principal investigator for over $400,000 in funded research projects. With all these achievements, Dean still enjoyed being able to see his students achieve greatness and took a personal pride in seeing his students graduate and become successful in their own endeavors. He also made sure he took the time to joke and pull practical jokes, both on his colleagues as well as his students.
Following Dean's retirement, he continued to stay sharp by completing complex mathematic equations and following the financial reports as well as taking several long walks, multiple times a week. He also continued to study history, political science and economics, which he enjoyed throughout his life.
Dean is survived by his favorite cousin, Johnny Reid and wife, Dana, as well as their two sons Ryan and Reagan. Dean is also survived by his cousin Stewart O'Dell and his wife Elise.
A graveside service will take place on Monday, December 20, 2021 at 11:00 am in the Rosedale Cemetery in Gladewater, Texas.