DeVine of W. Bridgewater, January 22, 2005, Alma F. (Soderholm) DeVine, 85 years. Beloved wife of Eugene R. DeVine. Loving mother of Deirdre DeVine of W. Bridgewater; Diane Mulhall of E. Falmouth; Cheryl DeVine of Warwick, NY and Eugene DeVine, Jr. of Durham, NC. Grandmother of Garrett and Shamus Mulhall and Danya DeVine. Sister of Bruce Soderholm of Brockton. Sister in law of Marjorie Soderholm of Easton.
Funeral Service Saturday at 9:30 am in the First Church of the Nazarene, 89 North Pearl St.,Brockton for the Anglican Parish of St. Paul. The Rev. Thomas Morris and James Hiles, Rector, of the Anglican Parish of St. Paul, will officiate. Burial in Pine Hill Cemetery, W.Bridgewater. Visiting hours in the J. Frank Conley Funeral Home, 138 Belmont Street (Rte 123) Brockton Thursday 3-8 pm. In lieu of flowers donations in memory of Alma may be made to one of the following: Brockton Visiting Nurses or Hospice of Greater Brockton, 500 Belmont St., Brockton, MA 02301; The Alzheimer’s Assoc., 36 Cameron St., Cambridge, MA 02141, the Anglican Parish of St. Paul’s 701 Pleasant St., Brockton, MA 02301 or the Mary Tierney Coutts Scholarship Fund Sargent College Boston University, 635 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215. Her family is especially grateful to the staff of the Brockton Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice of Greater Brockton.
Obituary
Alma (Soderholm) DeVine, founder of St. Paul’s Kitchen, died on January 22nd in her home at age 85, following a long illness. Born in 1919 in Lynn, Massachusetts, Mrs. DeVine moved with her family to West Bridgewater in 1928, where her father, Hjalmar Soderholm, established Hill Crest Farms Dairy. Following graduation from Brockton High School in 1936, she studied physical education and the new field of physical therapy, at Sargent College, Boston University. Graduating in 1940, she was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the United States Army in 1943. Mrs. DeVine completed specialized training at the Cabot Kaiser Institute, Washington, DC and was posted to the 117th General Hospital in Bristol England. There she developed and directed the 35-member Department of Physical Therapy, which received wounded soldiers from the front lines during the Normandy Invasion and subsequent battles of World War II. She retired from the Army in 1945 with the rank of Captain.
In 1948 Mrs. DeVine married Eugene R. DeVine, whom she had met on a USO tour in London, England. Establishing her home in West Bridgewater, she treated private patients while caring for a growing family. In 1964 she joined the Brockton Visiting Nurse Association and supervised the physical therapy program. And in 1968 Mrs. DeVine joined Easter Seals of Massachusetts to direct the in-home physical therapy program throughout southeastern Massachusetts.
Following her retirement in 1981, Mrs. DeVine embarked on another career, becoming the driving force behind the creation of St. Paul’s Kitchen, a free meals program of Saint Paul’s Parish, Brockton. Mrs. DeVine had seen an elderly man rummaging through the trash behind a local fish market, something she had never before seen in Brockton. Over a period of the next 12 years, she worked tirelessly at the Kitchen six days a week, serving over 1.5 million free meals to the hungry in Brockton. She inspired countless individuals, churches, synagogues, and organizations to donate to the Kitchen and was a catalyst for similar generosity from business and philanthropies. As an article published in the Sunday Brockton Enterprise of November 24. 1985, Alma’s motivation came from the simple phrase “But for the grace of God go I.”
Mrs. DeVine also was a member of Huntington Chapter, Number 197, Order of Eastern Star, becoming Worthy Matron of Huntington Chapter and appointed a Deputy Grand Matron of the Order in Massachusetts. Through Huntington Chapter she continued the benevolent work and fellowship of the Order and forged life-long friendships.
In addition to her beloved husband of 56 years Eugene, Mrs. DeVine is survived by her daughters Deirdre DeVine of West Bridgewater,MA; Diane Mulhall of East Falmouth, MA; Cheryl DeVine of Warwick, NY; and a son, Eugene DeVine Jr., of Durham, NC; also her grandsons, Garrett and Shamus Mulhall, and grand-daughter Danya DeVine. She is survived by a brother, Bruce Soderholm of Brockton, MA and a sister-in law, Marjorie Soderholm of Easton, MA and many nieces and nephews. Her family is especially grateful to the staff of the Brockton Visiting Nurse Association, whose nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants provided exceptional care to Mrs. DeVine.