Warren Roger Deasy, co-owner of the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round in
Los Angeles, California, died October 8, 2011, in Los Angeles.  His
passing went unannounced in the carousel and amusement park world.

He was born September 6, 1925, in Spokane, Washington, the son of
Jefferson T. Deasy and Wilhelmina Antonia (Camyn) Deasy.  His mother
was born in the Netherlands.  Warren attended the University of
Washington, Seattle, in the late 1940's, then entered a career in
advertising and commercial production in the 1950's in Seattle.  He
later organized his own advertising business, "Supercolossal Pictures."

Warren married Helen Beatrice (Dyser) Burt (b. Spokane, October 24,
1920; d. October 4, 1991, San Luis Obispo) in Spokane on April 26,
1952.  They were divorced in San Luis Obispo in January 1969.

Warren married Rosemary Helene Macgillis (b. August 12, 1943) in
Marin County, California, on February 14, 1970.  In 1984-1985 Warren
and Rosemary bought the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round from its owners,
Don Rand and Edward Openshaw.  The Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round was
originally installed in 1937 by Ross R. Davis, who operated it until
his death, when it passed to his son, John O. "Bud" Davis, who later
sold the ride to Rand and Openshaw.  The Deasys bought Don Rand's half
of the ride in 1984, with Ed Openshaw staying on as partner for a year
to teach Warren and Rosemary all about operating it.

Because the final sale of the ride did not include the two ex-Davis
Wurlitzer 165 band organs that Rand and Openshaw owned, nor any of the
smaller Davis band organs, the Deasys commissioned an entirely new
165-scale band organ from Don Stinson to provide traditional carousel
music for the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round.

Eventually Warren and Rosemary divorced but continued to jointly own
the merry-go-round in partnership, Rosemary going by the name Rosemary
West.  After Warren's death, Rosemary continued to operate it, and
still does to the present day.  She is also a principal in Frozen Mango
-- A Design Group, Santa Monica, California.

In his will, Warren left his half of the merry-go-round to Julio
Gosdinski, who was for twenty-seven years the Deasys' ride manager.
Today Julio handles day-to-day operations, while Rosemary handles
paperwork, contracts, dealing with the local bureaucracy, and arranging
TV and movie shoots.

Matthew Caulfield
Irondequoit, New York

 [ See also http://nationalcarousel.org/psp/GriffithPark/  -- Robbie