Frances Elizabeth Devine, known lovingly by all as "Betty," died peacefully on Thursday June 2, 2011 at Cedar Crest Retirement Village, Pompton Plains, NJ, attended by the love of her life, John Devine, her husband of 43 years. She is also survived by her loving children, Caroline Douglas; Carl Soresi and his wife Linda; Laurie Haynes and her husband Charles; Mark Soresi; and Jonathan Soresi; and by seven loving grandchildren: Christine Meket, Melanie Meket, Stephanie Meket, Donald Douglas, James Douglas (children of Caroline) and by Arianna Soresi and Gianmarco Soresi (children of Mark).
Betty was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In her early years she grew up in Highland Park, NJ in a loving household with her parents, Mary and Joseph Duffee and her dear aunt Fannie and her brother Bill. In her adolescent years the family moved to Greenwich Village in Manhattan and Betty attended the Rhodes School where she graduated in June 1940 with the highest honors. She was the class valedictorian and was awarded the Celia Goodman Medal for Character, voted unanimously so by her classmates.
Betty attended Oberlin College and in 1942 married Carl Soresi; the marriage ended in divorce in 1960. By the early 1960s, Betty was a single mother living in Northern Virginia with her five children. Answering an ad in the Washington Post in 1964, she applied for a position at Georgetown University as assistant to the Dean of Students. John Devine, a Jesuit priest, had been teaching in the faculty of theology at Georgetown and had recently been appointed as Dean of Students. When Betty and John met, it was love at first sight for both of them. But neither of them could express their true feelings for some time. After much deliberation, reflection and prayer, Jack and Betty both felt that God was calling them to a married life, a life of mutual commitment. It was at that time that John (a.k.a. Jack) resigned from the Jesuits and the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Betty and Jack were married in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 1968 and moved to Illinois where Jack worked for the anti-poverty program in Chicago and Betty worked for Evanston Hospital. Betty and Jack and Mark and Jonathan lived in Evanston until 1974 when Betty and Jack moved back East, to Greenwich Village while Mark moved on to Washington and graduated as a chemist from George Washington University; Jonathan went on to Kentucky where he pursued a career as an equestrian. Carl returned from Vietnam (as a Marine Captain) and married Linda. Caroline remained in Lake Forest Illinois with her young family while Laurie and her husband Chuck ran their horse business in Middleburg, VA.
In New York City, Betty served as the assistant to the director of the American Language Institute at New York University and Jack taught at the New York University School of Education. Our Greenwich Village apartment, just a few blocks from NYU, became the center of our family life as the children and grandchildren came from around the country to visit.
Betty reveled in the magic of Manhattan. We developed a network of friends that extended out from the University across the city and who remain dear to us even today. In our evening walks down Bleecker Street we explored every historic nook and cranny of the West Village. Betty served as the secretary of the Christopher Street Block Association until we moved to Cedar Crest in August 2007.
Betty hated to brag about her accomplishments so I (Jack) shall have to do a little bragging here for her. Betty was a superb cook, a dedicated gardener, an accomplished watercolor artist, a musician and a beautiful soprano. She had a heavenly voice and was gifted with perfect pitch. As a teenager, in 1939, she sang the Bach "Mass in B Minor" with The Bach Bethlehem Choir conducted by the famous Ifor Jones. (She sang the duet for the Kyrie Eleison.)
It was my privilege to be married to Betty for the happiest 43 years of my life. As her legacy to the children and their spouses and her legacy to the grandchildren she wanted nothing more than that I should continue on with the same love and the care that she always manifested to them. And I am in turn grateful to them for the love they have always bestowed on me and continue to bestow on me. The entire family will always be grateful to all of our dear friends in NYC, at Cape May Point and at Cedar Crest.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday at the Cedar Crest Chapel at 11 a.m.
Betty was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In her early years she grew up in Highland Park, NJ in a loving household with her parents, Mary and Joseph Duffee and her dear aunt Fannie and her brother Bill. In her adolescent years the family moved to Greenwich Village in Manhattan and Betty attended the Rhodes School where she graduated in June 1940 with the highest honors. She was the class valedictorian and was awarded the Celia Goodman Medal for Character, voted unanimously so by her classmates.
Betty attended Oberlin College and in 1942 married Carl Soresi; the marriage ended in divorce in 1960. By the early 1960s, Betty was a single mother living in Northern Virginia with her five children. Answering an ad in the Washington Post in 1964, she applied for a position at Georgetown University as assistant to the Dean of Students. John Devine, a Jesuit priest, had been teaching in the faculty of theology at Georgetown and had recently been appointed as Dean of Students. When Betty and John met, it was love at first sight for both of them. But neither of them could express their true feelings for some time. After much deliberation, reflection and prayer, Jack and Betty both felt that God was calling them to a married life, a life of mutual commitment. It was at that time that John (a.k.a. Jack) resigned from the Jesuits and the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Betty and Jack were married in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 1968 and moved to Illinois where Jack worked for the anti-poverty program in Chicago and Betty worked for Evanston Hospital. Betty and Jack and Mark and Jonathan lived in Evanston until 1974 when Betty and Jack moved back East, to Greenwich Village while Mark moved on to Washington and graduated as a chemist from George Washington University; Jonathan went on to Kentucky where he pursued a career as an equestrian. Carl returned from Vietnam (as a Marine Captain) and married Linda. Caroline remained in Lake Forest Illinois with her young family while Laurie and her husband Chuck ran their horse business in Middleburg, VA.
In New York City, Betty served as the assistant to the director of the American Language Institute at New York University and Jack taught at the New York University School of Education. Our Greenwich Village apartment, just a few blocks from NYU, became the center of our family life as the children and grandchildren came from around the country to visit.
Betty reveled in the magic of Manhattan. We developed a network of friends that extended out from the University across the city and who remain dear to us even today. In our evening walks down Bleecker Street we explored every historic nook and cranny of the West Village. Betty served as the secretary of the Christopher Street Block Association until we moved to Cedar Crest in August 2007.
Betty hated to brag about her accomplishments so I (Jack) shall have to do a little bragging here for her. Betty was a superb cook, a dedicated gardener, an accomplished watercolor artist, a musician and a beautiful soprano. She had a heavenly voice and was gifted with perfect pitch. As a teenager, in 1939, she sang the Bach "Mass in B Minor" with The Bach Bethlehem Choir conducted by the famous Ifor Jones. (She sang the duet for the Kyrie Eleison.)
It was my privilege to be married to Betty for the happiest 43 years of my life. As her legacy to the children and their spouses and her legacy to the grandchildren she wanted nothing more than that I should continue on with the same love and the care that she always manifested to them. And I am in turn grateful to them for the love they have always bestowed on me and continue to bestow on me. The entire family will always be grateful to all of our dear friends in NYC, at Cape May Point and at Cedar Crest.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday at the Cedar Crest Chapel at 11 a.m.
Frances Elizabeth Devine, known lovingly by all as "Betty," died peacefully on Thursday June 2, 2011 at Cedar Crest Retirement Village, Pompton Plains, NJ, attended by the love of her life, John Devine, her husband of 43 years. She is also survived by her loving children, Caroline Douglas; Carl Soresi and his wife Linda; Laurie Haynes and her husband Charles; Mark Soresi; and Jonathan Soresi; and by seven loving grandchildren: Christine Meket, Melanie Meket, Stephanie Meket, Donald Douglas, James Douglas (children of Caroline) and by Arianna Soresi and Gianmarco Soresi (children of Mark).
Betty was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In her early years she grew up in Highland Park, NJ in a loving household with her parents, Mary and Joseph Duffee and her dear aunt Fannie and her brother Bill. In her adolescent years the family moved to Greenwich Village in Manhattan and Betty attended the Rhodes School where she graduated in June 1940 with the highest honors. She was the class valedictorian and was awarded the Celia Goodman Medal for Character, voted unanimously so by her classmates.
Betty attended Oberlin College and in 1942 married Carl Soresi; the marriage ended in divorce in 1960. By the early 1960s, Betty was a single mother living in Northern Virginia with her five children. Answering an ad in the Washington Post in 1964, she applied for a position at Georgetown University as assistant to the Dean of Students. John Devine, a Jesuit priest, had been teaching in the faculty of theology at Georgetown and had recently been appointed as Dean of Students. When Betty and John met, it was love at first sight for both of them. But neither of them could express their true feelings for some time. After much deliberation, reflection and prayer, Jack and Betty both felt that God was calling them to a married life, a life of mutual commitment. It was at that time that John (a.k.a. Jack) resigned from the Jesuits and the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Betty and Jack were married in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 1968 and moved to Illinois where Jack worked for the anti-poverty program in Chicago and Betty worked for Evanston Hospital. Betty and Jack and Mark and Jonathan lived in Evanston until 1974 when Betty and Jack moved back East, to Greenwich Village while Mark moved on to Washington and graduated as a chemist from George Washington University; Jonathan went on to Kentucky where he pursued a career as an equestrian. Carl returned from Vietnam (as a Marine Captain) and married Linda. Caroline remained in Lake Forest Illinois with her young family while Laurie and her husband Chuck ran their horse business in Middleburg, VA.
In New York City, Betty served as the assistant to the director of the American Language Institute at New York University and Jack taught at the New York University School of Education. Our Greenwich Village apartment, just a few blocks from NYU, became the center of our family life as the children and grandchildren came from around the country to visit.
Betty reveled in the magic of Manhattan. We developed a network of friends that extended out from the University across the city and who remain dear to us even today. In our evening walks down Bleecker Street we explored every historic nook and cranny of the West Village. Betty served as the secretary of the Christopher Street Block Association until we moved to Cedar Crest in August 2007.
Betty hated to brag about her accomplishments so I (Jack) shall have to do a little bragging here for her. Betty was a superb cook, a dedicated gardener, an accomplished watercolor artist, a musician and a beautiful soprano. She had a heavenly voice and was gifted with perfect pitch. As a teenager, in 1939, she sang the Bach "Mass in B Minor" with The Bach Bethlehem Choir conducted by the famous Ifor Jones. (She sang the duet for the Kyrie Eleison.)
It was my privilege to be married to Betty for the happiest 43 years of my life. As her legacy to the children and their spouses and her legacy to the grandchildren she wanted nothing more than that I should continue on with the same love and the care that she always manifested to them. And I am in turn grateful to them for the love they have always bestowed on me and continue to bestow on me. The entire family will always be grateful to all of our dear friends in NYC, at Cape May Point and at Cedar Crest.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday at the Cedar Crest Chapel at 11 a.m.
Betty was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In her early years she grew up in Highland Park, NJ in a loving household with her parents, Mary and Joseph Duffee and her dear aunt Fannie and her brother Bill. In her adolescent years the family moved to Greenwich Village in Manhattan and Betty attended the Rhodes School where she graduated in June 1940 with the highest honors. She was the class valedictorian and was awarded the Celia Goodman Medal for Character, voted unanimously so by her classmates.
Betty attended Oberlin College and in 1942 married Carl Soresi; the marriage ended in divorce in 1960. By the early 1960s, Betty was a single mother living in Northern Virginia with her five children. Answering an ad in the Washington Post in 1964, she applied for a position at Georgetown University as assistant to the Dean of Students. John Devine, a Jesuit priest, had been teaching in the faculty of theology at Georgetown and had recently been appointed as Dean of Students. When Betty and John met, it was love at first sight for both of them. But neither of them could express their true feelings for some time. After much deliberation, reflection and prayer, Jack and Betty both felt that God was calling them to a married life, a life of mutual commitment. It was at that time that John (a.k.a. Jack) resigned from the Jesuits and the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Betty and Jack were married in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 1968 and moved to Illinois where Jack worked for the anti-poverty program in Chicago and Betty worked for Evanston Hospital. Betty and Jack and Mark and Jonathan lived in Evanston until 1974 when Betty and Jack moved back East, to Greenwich Village while Mark moved on to Washington and graduated as a chemist from George Washington University; Jonathan went on to Kentucky where he pursued a career as an equestrian. Carl returned from Vietnam (as a Marine Captain) and married Linda. Caroline remained in Lake Forest Illinois with her young family while Laurie and her husband Chuck ran their horse business in Middleburg, VA.
In New York City, Betty served as the assistant to the director of the American Language Institute at New York University and Jack taught at the New York University School of Education. Our Greenwich Village apartment, just a few blocks from NYU, became the center of our family life as the children and grandchildren came from around the country to visit.
Betty reveled in the magic of Manhattan. We developed a network of friends that extended out from the University across the city and who remain dear to us even today. In our evening walks down Bleecker Street we explored every historic nook and cranny of the West Village. Betty served as the secretary of the Christopher Street Block Association until we moved to Cedar Crest in August 2007.
Betty hated to brag about her accomplishments so I (Jack) shall have to do a little bragging here for her. Betty was a superb cook, a dedicated gardener, an accomplished watercolor artist, a musician and a beautiful soprano. She had a heavenly voice and was gifted with perfect pitch. As a teenager, in 1939, she sang the Bach "Mass in B Minor" with The Bach Bethlehem Choir conducted by the famous Ifor Jones. (She sang the duet for the Kyrie Eleison.)
It was my privilege to be married to Betty for the happiest 43 years of my life. As her legacy to the children and their spouses and her legacy to the grandchildren she wanted nothing more than that I should continue on with the same love and the care that she always manifested to them. And I am in turn grateful to them for the love they have always bestowed on me and continue to bestow on me. The entire family will always be grateful to all of our dear friends in NYC, at Cape May Point and at Cedar Crest.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday at the Cedar Crest Chapel at 11 a.m.
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Beloved Mother and Grandmother; Revered Wife of John Francis Devine
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