Donald "Don" W Dick Jr.

A man of grace and dignity, Don made a lasting and positive impact on every life he touched, whether as a team leader during his athletic playing days or as an executive and mentor during a professional career that spanned more than five decades. Don was also a wise and devoted family man: a gentle patriarch who built a world of security and love for all his relations. A master conversationalist, Don welcomed debates about his favorite topics and would often engage people with his vast knowledge and keen insight as well as his sharp whit and brilliant sense of humor. He was a dapper dresser whose personal style invoked the elegance of bygone eras. He was also a lifelong athlete, enjoying running, golfing, playing tennis, and boating. Don also loved riding and was the owner of several horses, such as his and Trudy’s champion thoroughbred filly Eastern Assignment. He was a devoted fan of Maryland’s sports teams, especially the Maryland Terrapins, Baltimore Orioles, and Baltimore Ravens. Together Don and Trudy delighted in creating their refined and beloved homes: Heathland, on Martha’s Vineyard, and Osprey, in southern Florida. Don cherished being with his family in these locations and was known to mark the end of a beautiful day by donning his captain’s hat and firing off a miniature cannon as the sun dipped into the sea.

Born on January 27, 1943 to Donald Warren Dick, Sr. and Laura Elizabeth Pearce Dick, Don was raised in Bel Air, Maryland. He attended Bel Air High School and took a post-graduate year at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland. In high school, Don was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. He went on to the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated from the Wharton School with a Bachelor of Science in Finance in 1965. While at Penn, Don was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and a three-year football letterman (as he always reminded us, “Freshmen couldn’t play then”). His time at Penn and the friends he made there remained a source of pride for the rest of his life. Shortly after completing college, Don married his high school sweetheart Trudy Elaine Parsons. The couple welcomed a son John and a daughter Hilary. Don and Trudy thoughtfully shepherded John and Hilary through their tender years, launching them to college, both at the University of Pennsylvania, in the 1980s. Don was proud that his children later earned advanced degrees and built fruitful careers and families of their own.

Upon his graduation from Wharton, Don began a remarkable career at McCormick & Co. in Baltimore and Hunt Valley, Maryland, where he held a variety of management roles, including Treasurer, CFO, and Executive Vice President. In the 1970s, he was one of the youngest people to be appointed to McCormick’s Board of Directors. He later became a member of McCormick’s Executive Committee. Don eventually rose to General Manager of North American Consumer Products, the company’s largest and most profitable business unit. As Treasurer/CFO, he put McCormick in the vanguard of S&P firms. While he was recognized for his financial acumen, Don also had a talent for marketing; as GM he spearheaded some of the company’s most successful product redesigns. In every position he held, Don was known as an innovator, a skilled strategic thinker, an effective communicator, and—above all—a man of integrity. In the early 1990s, Don and Trudy relocated to New York City where Don crafted a second career in merchant banking as a Principal with Oversees Partners, where he held several positions, including Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Haven Group. Don completed his career as an entrepreneur through EuroCapital Advisors, a venture he founded and managed.

Throughout his career, Don drew on the values of hard work and generosity he forged as a teenager while working for his father’s real estate business. These values also inspired Don to be an involved citizen. For more than 30 years, he served on the Board of Directors at T. Rowe Price, the Baltimore-based global asset management firm, as an independent director of the Price Funds. He also served on numerous boards of manufacturing, construction, publishing, and advertising companies in the United States and Europe. In addition to his board work, Don led fundraising for the United Way in Maryland and was involved in Penn’s Department of Athletics. He was a long-term member of the Penn Champions Club and advised on the renovation and expansion of Penn’s athletic facilities.

Don is survived by his wife of 53 years Trudy Parsons Dick and his adoring children and grandchildren: his son John Dick Pearce, daughter-in-law Janet Senft Pearce, and granddaughters Janet Elizabeth Pearce and Heidi Catherine Pearce; his daughter Hilary Parsons Dick, son-in-law Sean Graham Ward, and grandson Emerson Wallace Ward. He is also survived by his sister Kathryn Dick Gunderson, brother-in-law James Richard Parsons, Jr., sister-in-law Ann Melber Parsons, and mother-in-law Geneva Eades Parsons, as well as a large circle of extended family and friends.

Condolences can be sent to the family or submitted online to Aycock Funeral Home at Aycockfuneralhome.net. The family would like to thank the nurses and doctors at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in Fort Pierce, FL for their excellent care of Don and their thoughtful support of his family. A memorial service honoring Don’s life will be held in Maryland at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Don’s name to the Al Cesky Scholarship Fund at www.alceskyscholarship.org/donate.aspx or the Atlantic Classical Orchestra at atlanticclassicalorchestra.com/why-donate/.