Donald F. Istvan, 69, of Deer Park, Ill., a DePaul University accountancy professor and founder of D.F. Istvan Associates, Inc. in Barrington, Ill., died Jan. 5 after a long battle with prostate cancer.

Istvan was a professor at DePaul’s School of Accountancy from 1972 to 1992. “He will be remembered as an inspiration to many hundreds of accounting students at DePaul,” according to his colleague, Curt Verschoor, accountancy professor emeritus and the Ledger & Quill Research Professor at the school.

Istvan was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from the city’s John Marshall High School, where he met his wife, Martha. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester in New York and earned both his MBA and doctorate in accounting from Indiana University. Istvan and his family lived in Barrington Hills, Ill., for more than 32 years.

Istvan was president of D.F. Istvan Associates, Inc., until his retirement in 1995. The firm provided management consulting services to certified public accounting firms in the areas of practice management, compensation, strategic planning, merger planning and execution, partner selection and succession. As a licensee of the Predictive Index Program, Istvan was one of the first to apply psychological testing and human resource concepts to the field of public accounting. He also was acknowledged as one of the first to recognize the need for greater focus on the business aspects of CPA firms’ practices.

Previously, Istvan was a partner in the executive office of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., predecessor firm of KPMG Peat Marwick, a Big Five CPA firm. He also was a founding partner of AHI Associates, a prominent national provider of professional education for accountants. Istvan served as chair and member of numerous committees of the American Institute of CPAs and Illinois CPA Society. He was a frequent lecturer at professional meetings and firm retreats. In 1994 he was honored as one of the Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today. Istvan is the author or co-author of six books: “The Capital Expenditure Decision-Making Process” (1959); “The Audit and the Punched Card” (1961), “Capital Expenditure Decisions: How They are Made in Large Corporations” (1961), “Using Accounting Information” (1971), “Using Accounting Information – a Business Game” (1971), and “Accounting Principles.” (1979). He also wrote 35 major articles for the Journal of Accountancy and other prominent professional and academic journals, and numerous monographs and other materials for classroom use. His family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Hospice of Northeastern Illinois, 410 S. Hager Ave., Barrington, Ill. 60010, or the Building Fund, Barrington United Methodist Church, 509 Lake Zurich Road, Barrington, Ill. 60010.

Istvan is survived by his wife, Martha; a brother, Edwin J., of the Washington D.C. area; a son, John (Jay) A. of Hinsdale, Ill.; daughters Karina J. of Newtown, Penn., and Kristin S. (Istvan) Tarnofsky of Long Beach, Calif.; and four grandchildren.

Funeral services are private. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Jan. 27 at the Salem United Methodist Church, 115 W. Lincoln, Barrington, Ill.