Mary-Catherine Deibel

Mary-Catherine Deibel (1950–2023), along with Deborah Hughes, was the owner of Upstairs On the Square (previously known as Upstairs at the Pudding) and known as the unofficial mayor of Harvard Square. When the restaurant closed, she became the development director at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. At the restaurant, Deibel was in charge of public relations and hospitality.

As of 2022, she is President of the Harvard Square Business Association (HSBA) Board of Directors.

She died Thursday, June 1, 2023.

Early life

Mary-Catherine was born in 1950 to Robert Louis Deibel and Florence Lucille (Baxter) Deibel just outside of Chicago. The family later moved to San Jose, CA, Ridgewood, NJ, where Mary-Catherine attended a catholic college preparatory high school, and finally to Fort Collins CO after Mary-Catherine was already in college. Mary-Catherine has an older brother, Paul Deibel of Los Angeles, a younger sister Margaret Deibel O'Connor of Dallas, and a younger brother Bob Deibel of Denver. The family was a close knit one where her parents stressed integrity, hard work, a passion for learning, and an appreciation of the arts.

Mary-Catherine was a student of literature and a prodigious reader. She also loved classical music and at one time was studying the cello for personal pleasure.

Deibel attended Newton College, then went on to graduate school to study English Literature. After school, she managed classical music groups.

Professional life

Mary-Catherine caught the restaurant bug as a server at Peasant Stock, Somerville, MA, in the late 1970s. She was working at Boston Baroque as a pr and booking manager when she and Hughes decided to open a restaurant.

When she and Hughes, with partner Michael Silver, opened UpStairs at the Pudding in 1982, Deibel “represented an exception to the male-dominated business community.” The two women restaurateurs relocated their highly reputed restaurant to Winthrop Street as Upstairs at the Square. This incarnation included whimsical animal prints, pops of hot pink, gold, green and jacquard prints of black and white. Their reputation as one of the top restaurants in the area was due to the creativity of the menus and the attention to using only the finest locally sourced ingredients as well as the quirky decor and welcoming ambiance.

Deibel handled the front of the restaurant, greeting guests warmly, while Hughes was the executive chef. The pair reflected on memories with the Harvard Crimson in 2013 such as hosting Ella Fitzgerald, Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and Robin Williams as well as countless other Man and Woman of the Year nominated by the Hasty Pudding Club of Harvard. Deibel told the Globe five years ago that her favorite customer was Madeleine Albright.

Personal

Mary-Catherine was a croquet aficionado which led to a romance with Reid Fleming, an 8-time National Croquet Champion, and ultimately the two married in December of 1993.

She was renowned for her lively esprit, creativity, but most especially for the rare ability to make each guest at the restaurants, special events, her own home, and as a fundraiser for non-profits feel as if she had been waiting just for them and them alone to arrive!