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JOSEPH DERMOT DICKEY JR.: Family Matters Most

 

Joseph Dermot Dickey Jr. grew up with two older brothers in the Bronx, and the three siblings became more competitive the older they got. They sparred in tennis, basketball, volleyball and golf. Mr. Dickey, 50, who had settled down in Manhasset, was not only the best basketball player, his oldest brother admits, but was probably also the best liked of the three.

"He was extremely sociable," said Bill Dickey, 58. "Frankly, he was more easygoing and personable than me or my brother."

A managing director with Cantor Fitzgerald, Joe Dickey was also successful on Wall Street. But in his tight-knit Irish-American family, attributes as a husband and father Ð in Joe Dickey's case to his wife, Irene, son Joseph, 17, and daughter Liz, 15 Ð were "the mark by which we judge each other," Bill Dickey said.

His family's verdict was that Joe Dickey was exceptional on both counts, especially with the children. The last big family gathering, which also drew Walter, 55, the middle brother, was at the wedding of Bill Dickey's daughter last August in Adare Manor, Ireland. "We had a great time, all of us," Bill Dickey said. "We spent a lot of time playing golf."

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times