People

Residents

Bourne Dempsey - Attorney

12821 Lake Shore Boulevard
Bourne Pope Dempsey
Bourne Pope Dempsey

Bourne Dempsey was president and chair of the Bratenahl Land Conservancy. As a lawyer handling property sales, Dempsey spent years acquiring two properties along more than a mile of Bratenahl’s shore for conservation. He co-founded the Bratenahl Community Foundation and the Bratenahl 100.

He practiced law for 57 years with several firms, including Baker Hostetler, Arter & Hadden, and Tucker Ellis. Besides real estate, he handled many corporate matters.

Bourne Pope Dempsey was born on September 10, 1930, to John Bourne and Jeanette Dempsey. Bourne attended the Bratenahl School and University School. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, Yale University in 1952 and Harvard Law School in 1955. He served with the U.S. Army in Germany.

Bourne married Louise Pomeroy on May 8, 1971, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Alson Pomeroy. Louise, a descendant of William Penn, made her Junior League of Cleveland debut in 1962. She was a graduate of Laurel School, Colby Junior College, and McGill University in Montreal. She received a law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Bourne and Louise had two children: Lawrence P. and Louise Aldrich, born January 31, 1979, who died in childbirth.

Louise served on the boards of Laurel School, Park Works, and the Visiting Nurse Association. She was a member of the Northern Ohio Hate Crimes Working Group of the U.S. Department of Justice/FBI, a fellow of the American Bar Association and a life member of the Eighth District Judicial Conference. In 1999, she was named one of the Ten Outstanding Women in Law by the Cleveland Bar Association,. In 2001, she received the Nonprofit Lawyers Academic Award from the business law section of the American Bar Association. In 1998, she was appointed by the mayor of Cleveland to the newly formed Board of Education of the Cleveland Municipal School District.

Bourne died on May 5, 2012, from complications of a stroke and buried in Lake View Cemetery. Bourne lived in the same house at 12821 Lake Shore Boulevard for all of his 81 years.