Our Staff

Dean received his B.S. in Mortuary Science from the University of Minnesota in 1984. He directed the Donated Body Programs at the Mayo Clinic and at UCLA, and he assisted in the research and development of Alkaline Hydrolysis (a.k.a. Water Cremation), co-authoring 26 scientific publications and abstracts. Over his 40 years in funeral service, Dean has been instrumental in bringing Water Cremation to many states including Minnesota, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, California, and most recently Hawaii, working closely with state, county, and city officials. In addition to his role at Gentle Water, Dean owns and operates another Water Cremation facility in Minnesota's Twin Cities. Dean and his wife Denise love to travel and hang out with their 4 children and 2 grandsons. He loves to fish and takes annual trips to Canada with friends and family to catch walleyes and pike.

Tina holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Columbia University. She has worked in healthcare operations for over two decades across academia, nonprofits, and early stage startups. She also serves on the board of two nonprofit organizations. Tina works closely with Steve on the backend functions of the business.  She lives with her husband and two children in the Hudson Valley.  When she's not taxiing her children around to various sports practices she's working on restoring her 1850s farmhouse.

Steve was born in Plantation, grew up in Weston, and attended Nova and University School. After earning a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, he moved to Los Angeles and has worked in management consulting, film finance, and tech startups. At Gentle Water, Steve works behind the scenes, managing many aspects of the business so that our funeral staff can focus on what they do best—caring for the families we serve. Steve lives with his wife Adrienne and their cat Nala. He volunteers as a big buddy to grieving children at Comfort Zone Camp, and he loves to golf.