Dede Wilsey

Diane Buchanan "Dede" Wilsey (b. Washington, D.C., 1944) is a San Francisco socialite and philanthropist, and the widow of San Francisco businessman Al Wilsey.

Wilsey was born Diane Dow Buchanan. Her father, Wiley T. Buchanan, was the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg and Austria, as well as the White House under Dwight Eisenhower. Her maternal great-grandfather, Herbert Henry Dow, was the founder of Dow Chemical. Her privileged childhood featured summers at the family estate in Newport, Rhode Island, and in the south of France. When she made her social debut in 1961, as a Connecticut College student, Town & Country Magazine featured her on its cover.

She married shipping magnate and art collector John Traina in 1965, and had two sons, Todd and Trevor Traina. Her father was opposed to his daughter's marriage. In 1980, she divorced Traina, who later married billionaire novelist Danielle Steel.

In 1980, she married dairy millionaire Al Wilsey, who had recently divorced his third wife, Patricia Montandon. She and Wilsey were fixtures on the social axes of San Francisco and Napa Valley, where they maintained a country house. Al Wilsey died in 2002 at age 82.

She remains a prominent figure in the artistic and cultural spheres of San Francisco. In 2005, she raised $190 million to rebuild the earthquake-damaged De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, one of the largest collective gifts ever made to an American museum. She has raised millions for local causes like the renovation of Grace Cathedral, as well as the establishment of numerous trusts for organizations such as the San Francisco Ballet and the San Francisco Opera.

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