Marion L. DeVoe

Marion Louise DeVoe, of Newark, DE, formerly of Wynantskill, Buffalo, Owasco, St Regis Falls, NY, and Camden, DE, went to be with the Lord on July 7, 2015, two months shy of her 94th birthday while under the loving care of her daughters in Newark, DE. Born the 2nd of 6 children to the late Samuel Stewart and Sarah McFetters, she graduated from Troy HS in 1939 with high honors, including the Bausch and Lomb Science Medal, and went to work as a secretary for Ludlow Valve in Troy, NY. She enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in 1944, and rose to the rank of Corporal as a stenographer on General (later President) Eisenhower’s stateside staff, before her honorable discharge in 1945. She married then-Lt. Charles E. DeVoe of the Buffalo Police Department in Troy, NY, on October 26, 1946, with whom she fell in love while both were serving in the Army “ a forbidden romance as she was enlisted and he was an officer. Upon relocating to Buffalo, she raised 4 daughters, serving as a Brownie and Girl Scout Troop Leader at the Church of the Transfiguration (Episcopal) in North Buffalo while working as a Buffalo PD crossing guard, and later became secretary for George Wallace Realty in Kenmore, NY. She was very involved with the Parent Teacher Association throughout the years of her daughters’ primary and secondary education, serving as an officer on many occasions. At the age of 53, while shingling the roof of the new garage in a snowstorm with her retired husband, she decided to return to school and went to Cayuga County Community College in Auburn, NY, graduated in the top 10 of her class, and became a New York State Registered Nurse. After she retired from Auburn Memorial Hospital, she spent many summers in the Adirondack Mountains with her grandchildren, teaching them to swim in the St. Regis River, and most other seasons touring with her husband in their camper, square dancing their way through every state (except Hawaii) and most Canadian provinces. In addition to her parents, Marion was preceded in death by her beloved husband in 2003; her oldest daughter, Lynne Wilson in 1995; and 4 siblings. She is survived by one younger sister, Dorothy Girard of Wynantskill, NY, 3 daughters, Christine E. DeVoe, of Newark, Janice L. Colvin of Henderson, NC and Melody G. Devoe of Newark; 5 grandchildren; 13 great grandchildren; 1 great great grandchild; 4 sons-in-law; and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at 11 am on Saturday morning, July 25, 2015 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 210 Old North Road, Camden, DE. She will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, in Washington DC, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to local chapters of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the March of Dimes or your favorite charity.

Marion L. DeVoe

September 16, 1921 - July 7, 2015