Charlotte Anne McDevitt

She was a wanderer; a woman who lived by her own timetable and showed up when she was ready. She was strong-willed and playful, and full of wistful melancholy.

She lived a life of transformations, moving from one locale to the next and changing as she went, but always maintained strong relationships with those she loved.

Charlotte (Char) was born in Philadelphia on Jan 4, 1943 to Charles and Marcella Gordon, along with her siblings, Jan Ghost, Charles (Chick) Gordon, and Bea Muldrew. She met her future husband, James McDevitt, while volunteering in the Civil Air Patrol.

As a young army wife, she found adventure in each new post — riding horses on the Oklahoma plains, feeding raccoons from a house by the golf course in Pebble Beach, navigating the chaotic streets of Bandung, walking the beaches of Oahu.

Somewhere among the moving boxes and new house keys, Char raised two sons, Sean and Michael McDevitt.

Deeply spiritual, she was the liturgist at St Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Woodbridge, VA, where she nurtured community and built friendships that lasted to her last day.

Ever searching, she returned to college, earned a degree in biology, and oversaw environmental education at the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ. She loved the abundant habitat of the coast, and developed a passion for birding.

As resort homes steadily replaced the Shore’s quaint bungalows, she left for the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. She spread her love of Yellowstone National Park as an activities coordinator at Old Faithful Inn and as a tour guide, driving the antique Yellow Bus throughout the park.

She eventually settled just outside the park in Gardiner, MT, where she spent several years watching the mountains and sharing her yard with elk and pronghorn.

She finished her days close to her family in Springfield, VA.

She loved the earth, and taught us to treasure birds, plants, and wildlife. She loved being by the sea, and on one of her last days, unable to open her eyes, asked “Are you looking at the ocean?”

She taught us to keep our ice cream cones from dripping and never to hold binoculars without at least putting a hand through the strap.

She was a treasure, and she will be missed.

Please honor her memory by watching a bird, staring out at the ocean, eating some chocolate, or just drinking a coke. Drive around. Go on an adventure. Love the world.

A memorial to her memory will be held 4/26/25 in Stone Harbor, NJ.