Donald H. Ready, real estate firm founder
Donald H. Ready, founder of a commercial real estate and development firm, died Sept. 5 of heart failure at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center & Hospital in Baltimore. He was 83. The son of Hartnett Ready, an insurance salesman, and Ruth Ready, a CBS Radio engineer, Donald Hartnett Ready was born and raised in Yonkers, N.Y., and graduated in 1950 from Roosevelt High School.
He served with the Army Signal Corps in Japan from 1950 to 1952. After being discharged from the service, he attended night school at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y.
Mr. Ready began his career working for a residential real estate firm in NewYork City, eventually moving to its commercial side.
He became a location specialist for the old Food Fair grocery store chain, a position that in 1966 prompted his move to Baltimore.
He left Food Fair three years later when he established Donald H. Ready Real Estate in a small Timonium office.
One of his first business partnerships was with brothers Angelo D’Anna and Carmen D’Anna, whose other brother, Joseph D’Anna, established the first Mars supermarket on Old Eastern Avenue in Essex.
In 1974, the partners opened Danville Square Shopping Center on Merritt Boulevard.
Mr. Ready continued working with the D’Anna brothers on several projects and developed a deep friendship with Angelo D’Anna, who wanted him to become his real estate adviser.
But Mr. Ready instead wished to remain independent and work for himself, family members said.
Other notable projects he was involved with included Manor Shopping Center, which he developed in Four Corners in the Jacksonville area of Baltimore County in 1976, and projects in Baltimore and Harford counties.
“He was known for his sharp business sense and an incredible level of integrity,” said a son, Donald H. Ready Jr., of Cedarcroft, who is vice president of commercial real estate for DHR Commercial Real Estate, as the firm is now known.
The longtime Cedarcroft resident was semiretired at his death.
A lifelong sailor, Mr. Ready enjoyed sailing the Chesapeake Bay and the Intercostal Waterway to Florida aboard his 47-foot Marine trading International trawler. He was a member of the Sparrows Point Country Club, where he kept his boat and also enjoyed playing golf.
Interested in the restoration and preservation of the bay, he was an active member and supporter of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
He was also an active member of Boats for Hope, a group that takes disadvantaged children and their families for a day on the bay .
memorial Mass will be offeredA at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church, York and Overbrook roads, Rodgers Forge.
In addition to his son, Mr. Ready is survived by his wife of 52 years, the former Brenda Brady; three other sons, Michael A. Ready of Parkton, Steven J. Ready of Towson and Douglas R. Ready of Oxnard, Calif.; and nine grandchildren.