PHILANTHROPY A grand dame’s legacy is fulfilled By Paul Carroll Photo of Elizabeth Deichman by Jim Bush. Elizabeth Squire Deichman charmed her neighbors in Allentown as well as a host of other friends and colleagues over her long and productive life. For over forty years, she lived in a three-story circa 1865 brick house on North Pearl Street, working first as a ground-breaking occupational therapist and then volunteering her time for a host of local charities and other organizations. As a caregiver, Deichman’s motto was “Health suffers greatly when love, useful activity, and respect are missing in anyone’s life.” After her death, Deichman’s impact on the Western New York community continues, with a series of legacies and bequests and an unusual book project. When Deichman died March 6, 2008, at age eighty, she left an estate of over $1.2 million. She and her husband, Henry, who died in 1996, had no children, and a search by lawyers for the estate turned up no blood relatives. She left over $300,000 to friends and relatives by marriage, but the bulk of her estate was willed to charity, including $100,000 to the Erie County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; $100,000 to the Buffalo Zoological Society; $50,000 to Cornell University School of Civil Engineering; $50,000 to the Tifft Farm Nature Preserve; $40,000 to the Meals on Wheels Foundation; and $25,000 each to the First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Doctors Without Borders USA; $20,000 to the American Occupational Therapy Foundation; $15,000 to Alley Cat Allies of Bethesda, Maryland; and $10,000 each to Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Young Women’s Christian Association of Buffalo and Erie County.  A member of the first graduating class in 1956 of the University of Buffalo’s occupational-therapy program, she was a fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association, cofounder of Potentials Development providing therapy to older persons, and authored five books in her field. “Beth enjoyed people and had many friends whom she visited often and they frequently came to visit her,” one of those friends recalls. “She showed her caring for her friends by inviting them to her house to enjoy meals that ranged from simple to grand.” Deichman was an enthusiastic volunteer for Meals on Wheels, the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site, Garden Walk Buffalo, and the Allentown Association, among other nonprofit organizations. Her North Pearl home was often included on the “Secrets of Allentown” tour of homes, and she would don Victorian dress (as shown here) and greet all visitors. She was also fond of animals, especially cats. She wrote a book, collaborating with a friend and fellow writer, Veronica Breen Hogle, on Nine Cats: Nine Lives in the Tall, Narrow Brick House, published shortly after her death by Aventine Press of San Diego.   In her will, Deichman authorized $25,000 “for the printing, launching, advertising, and distributing [of] this book” and hiring Veronica Hogle for a $10,000 consulting fee for her assistance in launching the book. Donna Sundell, executrix of the estate, and Hogle, after extensive negotiations over a twenty-month period, reached agreement last month on financing the book launch. (Until it was resolved, the book issue held up the disbursement of the residual estate.) Deichman and Hogle met in the 1980s. In 2007, Hogle recalls, “we rekindled our friendship and she asked me if I would help her write a book about how her late husband introduced her to cats and how much joy the stray and homeless cats gave her. We got together many times while she told me the story of each cat’s life. Then we rewrote the stories from the cats’ point of view. She is listed as the author and I am the editor. As the back cover of the book states, proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to agencies that help cats to be cared for and be placed in good homes.” Recently Hogle wrote on the OurEcho website: “When I see cats, flower gardens, and groups of elegant women with silver hair, wearing colorful clothes, hats, and white gloves, taking time to preserve their old friendships over an elegant, meal, I remember Elizabeth Squire Deichman. She had beautiful soft brown eyes and a friendly smile. She was gracious, gentle, kind, generous, accomplished, colorful, elegant and humble. It was an honor to know and work with Beth, the cat lady of Allentown.” According to Deichman’s will, the profits from the first 1,000 copies of her final book are to be given to the Erie County SPCA, with remaining rights in the book to Hogle. So far, 700 copies have been printed, paid for by the estate, 300 of which have been sold. Now that the book issue is resolved, the residual estate can be disbursed. Records in Erie County Surrogate’s Court show that while $830,000 of the estate has been paid to charities and individuals, there is approximately $350,000 remaining. Twenty percent of the remainder is destined for the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, to benefit programs in Allentown and for the City of Buffalo Animal Shelter. Other provisions for the residual estate include fifteen percent shares each to the Buffalo Zoo and the Tifft Farm. The remaining half is divided between four individuals. Veronica Hogel is glad to see such a gratifying conclusion of Deichman’s final wishes, stating, “She really trusted me to promote this book, and I’m pleased her dream of helping homeless cats find homes will come about.” Barbara Carr, SPCA chief executive, says Deichman was “a good friend of the SPCA for at least the sixteen years that I’ve been here. She was always generous and kind.” The book is expected to be available in Talking Leaves and other area book stores, as well as Amazon.com and other Web sites. Many of Deichman’s friends and neighbors in Allentown already own a copy of Nine Cats. It is one of the many ways in which they will remember and honor a great lady of Buffalo. Paul Carroll is a retired newspaper reporter and editor of the Allentown Neighbor. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top