“I was blessed to have her as a mother, but she treated everybody like they were her children,” said Debra Kane about Diana P. Duarte of Diana P. Duarte Realty Corporation in Whitestone.
October 19 marks one year since Duarte died of a massive heart attack, but the company that bears her name continues to flourish. Her daughter Debra and husband Alfonso Duarte continue to expand the business Diana built in 1974.
“She wanted to open up her own business so she could operate her own way,” said Kane. “She was so fair to everybody . . . she wasn’t looking to make a million dollars, she was looking to make you happy.”
Diana P. Duarte Realty Corporation sells homes, co-ops and condos in Queens and Long Island. They can be found at 14-14 150th Street in Whitestone and online at www.dianapduarte.com. Her staff – most with Duarte Realty for more than 10 years – has made a commitment to keep Diana’s legacy of good-natured business and community impact alive and well as long as her name is on the sign.
“People still come to this office because of my mother,” said Kane. “She left an impact on people’s lives. That’s the way she was. She had the biggest heart ever.”
