Diane E. Kaneb, Philanthropist and Leader of Health Care Organizations.
Diane Kaneb, a former Board Chair of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and longtime board member of Partners in Health, and a dedicated supporter of other causes, died on July 15 at her home in Weston, MA. She was 85.
The cause was cancer, which was first diagnosed 16 years ago.
A determined, engaging, and deeply caring woman whose humble background and religious faith informed her lifelong commitment to serving others, Diane was above all else an optimist who delighted in finding solutions to big challenges.
Following her 1961 marriage to Albert Kaneb, she spent 25 years raising their four children while leading a broad range of community organizations. In a rewarding second act, Diane then went on to work with others to transform two world-leading health care organizations: on her own, as a board member for 32 years and Board Chair for three years of Mass. Eye and Ear and, in partnership with her husband Albert, as a board member for 22 years of Boston-based Partners in Health. Their deep engagement with PIH led Diane and Al to further work with other organizations to deliver HIV-AIDS treatment in Rwanda and to provide desperately needed health care services in Haiti.
Diane Ellen Thorndike was born on April 8, 1939, and grew up in East Bridgewater, MA, in a civic-minded, Catholic family. Diane, the eldest of five children, graduated from East Bridgewater High School, where she was the salutatorian. She attended Smith College on an academic scholarship. During her freshman year, her father died, and to pay for her living expenses, Diane held various jobs on campus, and in the summers, worked as a chambermaid and waitress.
After graduating cum laude from Smith, Diane was one of the very few women accepted to IBM’s Executive Training Program. She and Al wed on May 27, 1961, and her chance for a corporate career ended, but a beautiful partnership and a life that would be full of bigger accomplishments began.
In 1989, with her children graduated from college, Diane joined the Board of Directors of Mass. Eye and Ear, bringing a passion and dedication to help improve patient care, expand research, and fuel the infirmary’s strategic direction and financial stability. After several years of board service, Diane became convinced that the hospital’s leadership was constrained by overly conservative and backwards-looking policies that were preventing the hospital from reaching its full potential. She recognized that the best path to genuine change demanded that she run for board chair, thus taking full responsibility for institutional transformation.
“Diane Kaneb was already an accomplished and dedicated member of the Board when she accepted the position of Board Chair in 2006,” said Joan Miller, MD, Chair of Ophthalmology at Mass. Eye and Ear and member of the Board. “Her leadership, vision, and resilience as Chair paved the way for Mass. Eye and Ear’s growth and success over the nearly two decades that followed. Diane was an inclusive, generous, and thoughtful leader. She led as she lived, strong in her faith, her family, and her passion for giving.”
In a 2011 dedication of his book, “Haiti After the Earthquake,” Dr. Paul Farmer, Founder of Partners in Heath, praised Diane and Al as two friends who, after many years and many challenges, remained “still standing” with PIH and the people of Haiti: “Love is good, but unconditional love is better.” PIH dedicated the pediatric wing of their flagship 350-bed hospital in central Haiti to Diane and Al in 2023 in recognition of their transformational support of the organization's programs there.
Diane’s love for the people and organizations she cared about was truly unconditional, but it was always accompanied by high expectations and clear and firm guidance.
Diane also served as Chair of the Board of Hospice at Home; Board Member of Pope John XXIII National Seminary; Member of the Advisory Council of Julie's Family Learning Program; Board Member of Health Equity International; and Vice Chair of the Board of Bridge Over Troubled Waters.
Diane is survived by her husband Al of 63 years, and her four children and their spouses: Patricia Kaneb; Katherine Kaneb; Nancy Kaneb Soule and her husband George; and Michael Kaneb and his wife Julie; 18 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. She is also survived by her brother Chris; her sister Susan Thorndike; and her sister Elizabeth Berry and her husband Frank. Diane was predeceased by her sister Joan Mavor.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to Mass. Eye and Ear or Partners in Health would be appreciated.
A date for a memorial service has not yet been set.