Obituaries 11-15-2010

Disque D. Deane

Innovative financier and developer of Starrett City

Disque D. Deane died in Boston on Nov. 8. He was 89.

Mr. Deane was one of the most innovative and creative financiers on Wall Street. One of his more prestigious accomplishments was his revolutionary approach to sale-leaseback transactions. He was a senior partner of Lazard Freres & Co. from 1963 to 1978.

In 1972, Mr. Deane and Andre Meyer restructured and financed Starrett City, a 5,881-unit model community in Brooklyn, N.Y. The community was restructured so that investors could benefit from a partnership that combined equity investments from private banks, state agencies and loans from federal housing authorities. The community, which opened in January of 1974, has its own shopping center, newspaper, power plant and security force. It is the largest and most successful affordable housing community in the United States.

Mr. Deane was the chairman of the Deane Group and founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Corporate Property Investors, the largest private REIT prior to its acquisition by Simon Property Group in 1998. He believed in education and medical research. Mr. Deane supported primary and secondary schools, as well as universities. He established the Deane Laboratories in Neurobiology at Duke University. Disque Deane was the chairman of the Deane Institute for Integrated Research on Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as a trustee at the Linus Pauling Institute, Rockefeller University and Duke University.

Mr. Deane was a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and attended Duke University. He graduated from the U.S.M.S. United States Navy Officer Training School. He is survived by his wife, Carol and their two children, Anne and Carl, and his children by his deceased wife Marjorie Schlesinger Deane, Marjorie Swain, Kathryn Deane, Disque Deane Jr. and Walter Deane. He has seven grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

A service will be held at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church on Friday, Nov. 19. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Starrett City Community Fund for Scholarships. Please make donations to: Spring Creek Community Corp Scholarship Fund, Office of Public Affairs, Spring Creek Towers, 1310 Pennsylvania Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11239.

Joel C. Priestley

Longtime Mt. Vernon Street resident

Joel C. Priestley of Westwood, formerly of Beacon Hill, died suddenly Nov.1.

Mr. Priestley was the beloved husband of Margaret J. (Campbell) Priestley; devoted father of Joel C. Priestley Jr., Lillian Priestley and Georgia Priestley, all of Westwood; son of John W. Priestley II of Bourne, and Leah (DePrizio) Priestley of Boston; brother of L. Anne Priestley of Holliston, John W. Priestley III of Rockport, Maine; and son-in-law of Roderick Campbell of Westwood.

Funeral arrangements were handled by the George F. Doherty & Sons, Wilson- Cannon Funeral Home of Dedham. Funeral Mass was in St. Margaret Mary Church, Westwood.

Expressions of sympathy may be made in Mr. Riestley’s memory to Habitat for Humanity 240 Commercial St. fourth floor, Boston, MA 02109. For directions and guestbook, visit gfdoherty.com.