Mario Diaz-Cruz

Mario C. Diaz-Cruz III, beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle and attorney died September 21st following a brief illness. He is survived by his wife of forty-four years, Margaret Rowan Diaz-Cruz, his daughter, Elizabeth Diaz-Cruz Sarosi, and her husband, David, and his grandsons, George Bela an Paul Carlos Sarosi, all of New York. He was predeceased by his parents and stepparents. Born in Havana, Cuba, he and his family immigrated to the United States in 1961. He graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in 1963, University of Miami in 1967, and Harvard Law School in 1970. Over his lifetime, Mario traveled the globe. He was an enthusiastic tennis player and always found pure joy in the company of his friends and family; he was known as the life of the party. Mario began his legal career at White and Case as an associate in 1970 specializing in antitrust litigation. He then joined Gadsby and Hannah as a partner. In 1988 he moved to Townley and Updike where he served as partner and management committee member through 1995. Since 1995, he has been an active partner at Dorsey and Whitney, serving as chairman of both the Latin America and the Latin American Financing and Privatization practice groups. He represented corporate and individual clients operating throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America, supporting their business objectives in the United States. His experience spanned a full range of services relating to mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions, franchising and distributions, trade and investments, corporate and commercial transactions and international trade. He was a member of the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Hispanic National bar Association, and the International Bar Association. Mario was a member of the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce and was elected president in 2000. He served as chairman of the board from 2003 to- 2007 and from 2008 to 2009. He was honored with the "Cruz del Merito Civil" bestowed by King Juan Carlos II of Spain. Mario served on the board of Girls Quest, formally The Girls Vocation Fund. Until his death, he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to Cathoic Charities, 1011 First Avenue, New York, New York, 10022 (www.catholiccharitiesny.org) or The Association to Benefit Children 419 East 86t street NY NY 10028.