While living in Paris in the early 1950s, Dearie met Bobby Jaspar, a Belgian flutist and saxophonist.
On February 7, 2009, "after a long illness"[REF] and "failing health",[REF] Dearie died "in her sleep"[REF] and "of natural causes"[REF] at her apartment on Sheridan Square[REF] in Greenwich Village, New York City, according to her representative and manager Donald Schaffer [REF].