RIP JIMMY DEAN

Sausagemeister Jimmy Dean passed away recently.

He was 81 years old.

Mr. Dean first came to fame as a singer ("Big Bad John") and later parlayed his earnings into a sausage empire.

Dean died June 13 at his Henrico County, Va., home.

His wife, Donna Meade Dean, said that her husband had some health problems but was doing well, so his death came as a shock.

Dean was raised in poverty in Plainview, Texas, and dropped out of high school after the ninth grade.

He went on to a successful entertainment career in the 1950s and ’60s that included the nationally televised “The Jimmy Dean Show.”