Northeastern mourns graduate and trustee Richard “Dick” Lesser
Lesser died on Thursday, Aug. 13. He was 91 years old.
The Northeastern University community is in mourning following the passing of graduate, longtime trustee, friend and benefactor Richard “Dick” Lesser who died on Thursday Aug. 13. He was 91 years old.
“Dick was a cherished member of the Northeastern community, and a true friend to all who had the good fortune of knowing him,” President Joseph E. Aoun wrote in a letter of condolence to the Lesser family. “His presence in this world will be deeply missed.”
A native of Newton, Mass., Lesser earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Northeastern in 1957, during which time he completed several co-ops at Boston department store Filene’s and worked three jobs to help support his family, according to an alumni profile and his obituary.
He was hired by Filene’s after graduation and began a long and successful career in retail. In addition to working at Filene’s and Zayre, a discount department store chain, Lesser was a co-founder of Reebok USA. He eventually joined TJX, the largest off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States and worldwide, rising to become its president. Off-price stores are discount retailers that buy merchandise at below-wholesale prices and then sell these goods for less than standard retail prices, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
Friends remembered Lesser as dedicated to his family and friends.
“He was probably the nicest human being I’ve ever met,” said Larry O’Rourke, a 1965 Northeastern graduate who worked with Lesser at Zayre in the 1960s and early 1970s. The two also became regular golfing buddies at Framingham Country Club, in a suburb of Boston.
“I looked up to him…everybody I know looked up to him,” O’Rourke said.
Lesser, and his wife Clare, who graduated from Northeastern School of Law in 1984, were also devoted to the university.
Lesser joined the university’s governing board as a trustee in 1995 and served on the Governance Committee and Financial Affairs Committee and chaired the Subcommittee on Facilities. He was elected to the honorary rank of emeritus status in 2007.
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“At the end of the day, his core was that he was a caring, kind and generous person and wanted to help others who were less fortunate,” said Jim Madigan, Northeastern’s athletic director, who recalled getting to know Lesser around 2000 while working in development at the university.
Madigan said philanthropy was a “core” value of Lesser’s character, part of his “wanting to do good, wanting to give back, wanting people to succeed, wanting to help people where he could be a positive influence so that they could be successful,” he added.
He also described Lesser as wise, well-read and interesting.
“You walked away a little smarter and a little more worldly having had conversations with him,” Madigan said.
Lesser was particularly devoted to Northeastern University Hillel, a Jewish community on campus for students from all Jewish backgrounds and cultures.
“He was someone who felt really strongly about community and about caring for others,” said Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow, Jewish spiritual advisor and director of Hillel at Northeastern. “He had the capacity to sort of open his arms and embrace the world, but also embrace the individual.”
Paasche-Orlow said that Lesser was not a devoutly religious person (although she noted he did belong to four synagogues). But Lesser was dedicated to Hillel from before its founding in 1962, she said, and he often checked in with her to ensure that the community was thriving and supported.
“He made it clear that he didn’t want us to ever have to turn away a Jewish student and that this is to be the place that a Jewish student can turn to,” Paasche-Orlow said. “And that he would be that place [to turn to] for us.”
Lesser also wanted to ensure that culture was shared.
Lesser encouraged O’Rourke, of Irish Catholic background, to join the Hillel board and often spoke with O’Rourke and Madigan of the importance of “building bridges” with other communities on campus.
“I would say that Northeastern is a much better place having had Dick Lesser part of our community for many years,” Madigan said. “But larger than that, the world is a better place for having Dick Lesser part of our existence for this many years.”
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