Eugene Robert DeVine, Business owner, entrepreneur, Senior Warden Emeritus of St. Paul’s Parish, Anglican, in Brockton, tenor soloist, fund raiser for countless non-profits, and retired Master of St. George’s Masonic Lodge died on Tuesday, April 16th at home following a stroke. He was 87 years old. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts where his singing talent was nourished by training at Christ Church Cathedral, and saw him become the lead boy soprano at age 11. He also studied violin for 8 years. Following graduation from Springfield Technical High School, and work at the Westover Airbase in Chicopee, Massachusetts, he enlisted in the Air Corp and became part of the logistics group for the largest American airbase in England during World War II. There he met his late wife, Alma Soderholm, Captain in the US Army Medical Corp and director of the physical therapy department at the 119th General Hospital, Bristol, England. Following World War II, he studied voice at Julius Hart College of Music, the University of Hartford, Connecticut, and the New England Conservatory. He married in 1948 and worked in a sales capacity at various corporations, eventually establishing the first drive-through convenience store in Massachusetts. His skilled fundraising for charitable causes included scholarship funds, library building projects and Saint Paul’s Kitchen, Brockton.
He is survived by his daughters, Deirdre DeVine of West Bridgewater, Diane Mulhall and her husband Brian of Falmouth, Massachusetts, Cheryl DeVine and her husband Philip Podmore of Warwick, New York and Falmouth Massachusetts, and Eugene DeVine and his wife Shannon of Durham, North Carolina; three grandchildren, Garrett Mulhall, of Scarsdale, New York; Shamus Mulhall and his wife Darlene of Canton, Massachusetts; and Danya DeVine of Durham, North Carolina.
Visiting hours in the Conley Funeral Home 138 Belmont Street (Rte. 123) Brockton Friday 4-7 pm. Funeral service in St. Paul’s Parish, Anglican, 701 Pleasant Street, Brockton Saturday at 10:30 am, followed by internment at Pine Hill Cemetery, West Bridgewater.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to St. Paul’s Parish, 701 Pleasant Street, Brockton, 02301 or the Guiding Eyes for the Blind, 611 Granite Springs Road, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 www.guidingeyes.org/ways-to-help/
This obituary was lovingly written by Eugene’s family.