J. Devereux Joslin

John Devereux Joslin, well-loved father, grandfather, and great grandfather, passed away peacefully Sunday, September 18 at the age of 93. Born in Raleigh June 29, 1918 to Harold Vincent Joslin and Annie Lane Devereux Hinsdale Joslin, Devereux grew up in Raleigh’s Cameron Park neighborhood with his brothers Bill and Hinky, and his sister Nell.

He attended Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg where he was a star baseball pitcher. He graduated from Broughton High School, where he was center on the basketball team. Devereux graduated from N. C. State with honors in architectural engineering in 1941, and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and the Monogram Club. During WW II, he served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U. S. Navy until 1945. During the war, he married Jacqueline Lucille Stager of Raleigh. Afterwards they moved back to Raleigh where Devereux worked as a structural engineer until 1953, when the family moved to Charlotte, NC. There he worked as an engineer and sales representative for Armco Steel, and was a member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Toastmasters, Carmel Country Club, and the Rotary Club.

He moved back to Raleigh in 1965 to establish Joslin Engineering and Development Company. For 16 years, he served as president of the firm, which distributed and erected steel buildings throughout eastern North Carolina. He continued to practice engineering professionally until age 84, when he suffered a stroke. During the past 9 years he has been confined to his home, where he has received devoted care from Helen Adams, his faithful nurse. Dev took great pride in driving about eastern N.C. and pointing out buildings that he designed and his firm constructed. He loved researching interesting bits of information, and taught his children how to reason with intellectual games and contests.

For 55 years, he was an avid golfer, and, as a member of Carolina Country Club, he was well known in his late 70’s and early 80’s for scoring under his age. He was a member of the Raleigh Rotary Club, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, and a generous contributor to the NC State University Wolfpack Club.

Devereux is predeceased by his wife of 45 years, Jacqueline (Jac), his sister Ellen Devereux Joslin (Nell) Styron, and his brother William (Bill) Joslin.

He is survived by his brother John Hinsdale (Hinky) Joslin of Raleigh, his daughter Frances Barrett of Atlanta, GA, and his son, John Devereux (wife Harriet) Joslin, Jr. of Monteverde, Costa Rica. He is also survived by four grandchildren; Spencer (wife Melissa) Banzhaf, Aaron (wife Rosileia) Joslin, Bryan (wife Kate) Joslin, and Katherine Barrett (husband Haakon Haakenson); as well as three great grandchildren, Elizabeth and John Banzhaf, and Levi Joslin.

A graveside service will be held at Oakwood Cemetery Saturday, September 24th at 1:00 pm.

Memorial donations may be sent to N.C. State Engineering Foundation, College of Engineering, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695-7901, www.engr.ncsu.edu/foundation/ .

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary’s St. Raleigh, NC, (919) 828-4311.