Devin Albert Ernst

Devin Albert Ernst was born on February 22nd, 1972 in Anchorage Alaska. The Ernst family — his parents Rick and Kathy and his younger brother Aaron — lived in a log cabin they’d built three miles off of the Parks Highway in the Alaskan wilderness, off the grid near the base of Denali. In 1975, the family moved to Barrow and then Point Lay, Eskimo villages on the shores of the Bering Sea, where his parents taught for several years before moving back to Interior Alaska.

Devin spent his youth in the shadow of the Alaska Range, in the small community of Trapper Creek, population 100, about three hours north of Anchorage. He grew up loving the woods and nature, was a hard worker and passed those qualities on to his family.

Devin attended Susitna Valley High School, where he excelled in cross country skiing, running, basketball, and making people laugh. He moved out of state to attend college in Oregon, ultimately landing in Tigard where he met and married Donna Botticelli. In 1995 they owned and operated and Italian restaurant in Northern California in which Devin took great pride. They had 3 beautiful children: Savannah, Gillian and Nicholas.

After his divorce from Donna, Devin continued working as a facilities property manager in Beaverton. He met the love of his life, Monica Nuno. They had 20 beautiful years together. He found his true joy working as a journeyman’s apprentice with Direct Plumbing for the last 4 years.

He had a passion for the outdoors and country music. With his family he enjoyed traveling, exploring, fishing, hiking, kayaking and he was an avid bird watcher, even from his back window. Devin was a kindhearted soul who greeted everyone with a smile. He had a very strong work ethic and was always willing to help others.

Devin fought incredibly hard after being diagnosed with a rare form of aggressive prostate cancer. He was taken away from us much too soon. Devin died peacefully on May 20th, surrounded by the love of his family and many friends. Devin will forever be in our hearts.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Tuesday, May 30th at 1:30 at Riverwood Ranch, 22100 Riverwood Road, Dundee Oregon 97115

In memory of Devin, donations may be made to the Portland Audubon Society and Wild Horse Mountain Ranch. Links listed below.

Wildhorsemountain.org

Audubon.org